English authorities ignored abuse of 1,400 children for fear of being labelled racist

English authorities ignored and failed to do anything about the physical and sexual abuse of 1,400 children over a 16-year period, an independent inquiry revealed.

Children as young as 11 were beaten, raped and trafficked between 1997 and 2013.

Yet, police and child services in Rotherham, in south Yorkshire,​ failed to take any action.

It was reported that the victims were doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight.

"(They were) also made to witness brutally-violent rapes and threatened they would be next," said Professor Alexis Jay, the author of the report .

Speaking about the police and child protection services' failure to act, the report said; "The collective failures... were blatant.

"From the beginning, there was growing evidence that child sex exploitation was a serious problem in Rotherham, which came from people working in residential care and from youth workers who knew the young people well."

Jay also said that there were indications of a cover-up as "three reports given to police and Rotherham Council in 2002, 2003 and 2013, which linked child sexual exploitation and drugs, guns and criminality... were effectively suppressed."

Fear of being labelled racist

It was suggested that the fear of being labelled a racist prevented the relevant authorities to take any action as a majority of the perpetrators were of Pakistani heritage.

The District Commander for Rotherham Jason Harwin said: "Firstly I'd like to start by offering an unreserved apology to the victims of child sexual exploitation who did not receive the level of service they should be able to expect from their local police force."

He admitted: "We fully acknowledge our previous failings."

Source: BBC, Al Jazeera