The Sexual Exploitation of Underage White Girls: If It's Not About Race What Is It About

Race crime has been in the headlines again. This time, two reports of men from predominantly Muslim communities, sexually exploiting and raping underage white girls. In Rochdale, England, eight men from the British Pakistani community and an Afghan were convicted of conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children under the age of 16 and other sexual offences including rape and trafficking for sexual exploitation. The judge said they treated their victims "as though they were worthless and beyond any respect".

It is beyond doubt that these men are predatory rapists with zero respect for females. However, public reaction to the case quickly descended into a debate about racism. Predictably, the BNP and other racist/far-right groups and publications, jumped on the religion and race of the convicted men and their female victims. In addition, many liberal-left commentators rushed to deny the race or culture aspect playing immediately into the hands of racist and misogynist discourse, and leaving themselves open to accusations of double standards. In fact, the gender-hate aspect became so overshadowed by race, that the criminals bizarrely ended up being painted as victims of racism.

Although the Rochdale crimes were predominantly about gender not race, the blurring of 'race' with religion and culture was also at fault. To deny that neither of these was a factor in this particular case is to ignore the root of the problem. Liberal-left commentators argued that paedophilia and sex-trafficking were not predominantly committed by men from the Pakistani or Muslim community in Britain. True. However, that does not block the question as to to why the men in this case targeted only white girls? Responses such as men preyed on these girls because "they were perceived to be unwanted, unloved, they were on the streets late and nobody seemed to care", not only perpetuate white, working-class stereotypes but also answer only half the question. It shifts the blame back to the girls an (...)