Over the last few days, a vicious debate has reignited over child sexual abuse cases in England.
At first, we were not going to speak on this issue because we didn’t want to wade into a conversation that was clearly being whipped up by the far-right and opportunistic commentators for political gain. We also felt like it failed to adequately understand or address systemic violence against women and girls.
However, we are becoming increasingly worried about spiralling misinformation and the potentially devastating consequences this could have on migrant and racialised communities.
This issue isn’t about migration. It’s about sexual violence, paedophilia, patriarchy and systematic police failures.
Former Home Office Minister and now-member of the Shadow Cabinet, Robert Jenrick MP, made blatantly racist comments when he attempted to link cases of child sexual exploitation with immigration and racialised people. Instead of centring the voices of victims, or for meaningful calls for justice, this disgusting narrative parroted by Jenrick and serial-Tweeter Elon Musk arguably aims to build on the ruins of the 2024 fascist riots in sewing the seeds of racism.
We need to listen to the victims, not far-right dog whistles.