Everyone has a role to protect the innocent

Everyone has a role to protect the innocent

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COMBATING child sex abuse is everyone’s business, says council leader Jim McMahon.

Oldham is currently supporting around 70 young people at risk as potential victims of sexual exploitation.

A Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) has the job of identifying potential victims and helping those who have become victims.

The issue came to the fore last month when details of the widespread abuse and alleged cover-up in Rotherham from1997-2013 was revealed.

In 2010, five Pakistani men were found guilty of a series of sexual offences against girls as young as 12. An investigation found the exploitation was much more widespread, involving as many as 1,400 children. The scandal led to resignations and widespread criticism of the way local authorities had handled things.

Oldham’s widespread work is not merely a response to the Rotherham revelations, says Oldham Council chief executive Carolyn Wilkins.

“It’s something we have been doing for a long time, but those events led us to ask if we are really doing everything we can.

“The policy is Oldham is to get the best and quickest possible outcome for victims. We need as much information as possible so we have a clear picture of what is going on. Early intervention is key. We also need to work with perpetrators, as they can be people who have been victims all their life and are just continuing the cycle of abuse.

“Safeguarding isn’t a narrow specialist area, it is the responsibility of us all and it is hugely challenging.”

Councillor McMahon, who chairs Oldham’s Safeguarding Accountability Board, acknowledged the racial element of the Rotherham and other abude cases.

“Race is an important issue, and one politicians are very nervous about,” he admitted.

“The abuse seen in Rotherham was Asian men on white girls — that’s a fact. If you don’t address that, you leave the ground fertile for right wing parties to use it for political gain, with claims of cover-ups or political correctness.

“I don’t agree with media witch hunts. The issue of community cohesion is something that always has to be taken into consideration in Oldham. We have a very fine balance and it doesn’t take much for it to tip. This was taken to the extreme in Rotherham; they allowed it to intimidate them into not taking action.

“We are all human and there will never be a system that can guarantee to save every person in Oldham from abuse. There will always be nasty people in every community. The issue of child safeguarding is huge and there must be no gaps for victims to fall through.

“The national media sensationalise this issue. If we were to report a rise in cases of sexual abuse in Oldham, it would be seen as a bad thing. They would label us a problem town, rather than accept the good news that more people are reporting incidents

“The overall message is it’s better to be safe than sorry. If you report something and it turns out to be nothing, there is nothing lost. We don’t want a victim to ever say that we let them down.”