Grooming Gangs Aren’t a Pakistani Problem—They’re a Justice Problem

In the wake of recent revelations about grooming gangs in the UK, a troubling pattern emerges—not just in the crimes themselves, but in how society reacts to them. Instead of focusing on the individual perpetrators and the systemic issues that enable such heinous acts, Western societies tend to racialise and communalise crime. This not only obscures the root causes of such offences but also perpetuates harmful stereotypes and deepens divisions within society.

Focus is often placed on grooming gangs involving perpetrators of South Asian descent. These cases are frequently framed as an issue intrinsic to the culture, religion, or ethnicity of the offenders. However, statistics paint a different picture. Reports indicate that 88% of grooming gang offenders in the UK are white men, a demographic fact that rarely dominates the headlines or shapes public discourse. If grooming were to be racialised, by this logic, it would be a “white issue.” Yet, the framing changes when the majority culture is implicated, shifting attention away from race or religion and treating the crime for what it is—a crime.

The point here is not to argue percentages or pit “white perpetrators” against “Pakistani perpetrators.” It is to question why Western societies resort to racialising crime in the first place. Why is the lens of race and religion so quickly employed when minorities are involved, but so swiftly discarded when the majority culture is implicated? This inconsistency underscores the deeper prejudice at play.     

Even though cases involving South Asian perpetrators make up a far smaller percentage of grooming-related crimes, they dominate media coverage. This disproportionate attention is not accidental—it is the politics of racism at work. These narratives are weaponised to reinforce existing prejudices and to scapegoat minority communities for broader societal failures.

The Danger of Communal Blame

This tendency to link crime to minority communities has dangerous consequences. It stigmatises entire groups for the actions of a few, fostering mistrust, alienation, and prejudice. Communities are scapegoated, and broader issues—such as the systemic failures that allow such crimes to persist—are ignored.

Grooming and sexual exploitation are not the products of a particular race or religion; they are symptoms of societal dysfunction. They stem from power dynamics, predatory behaviour, and failures in law enforcement and social support systems. High-profile examples demonstrate this clearly: schools have faced scandals over widespread abuse, such as the historical cases in UK boarding schools; churches, including the Catholic Church, have been implicated in systemic sexual exploitation that spanned decades and continents; celebrities like Jimmy Savile in the UK were found to have exploited their positions of power to prey on vulnerable individuals; and even the British monarchy faced scrutiny following allegations surrounding associations with figures like Jeffrey Epstein. These examples highlight that grooming and exploitation are far from a problem tied to any one community or ethnicity.

The Politics of Deflection

The disproportionate focus on grooming gangs involving South Asian perpetrators, despite their lower prevalence, serves a deliberate purpose in the Western political and media landscape. This selective outrage allows the far right to further its agenda, the populists to inflame divisions, and mainstream institutions to deflect blame. The real issue lies not in the ethnicity or religion of offenders but in the broken systems that fail to prevent these crimes and protect victims.      

Rather than examining how secular systems—legal, cultural, and social—consistently fail to address the root causes of such crimes, the discourse shifts to convenient scapegoats: race, religion, immigration, or political ideologies like “wokeness.” This deflection absolves the broader society of responsibility, perpetuating systemic failures.

The Real Challenge: A Broken System

By racialising and communalising crime, society not only stigmatises minorities but also misses the larger point: the secular systems meant to protect and serve everyone are fundamentally broken. Inadequate victim support, weak oversight in institutions and a highly sexualised society create the conditions for exploitation to thrive. These systemic problems are overshadowed by divisive and counterproductive narratives.

Toward a Just Perspective

A crime is a crime, regardless of the perpetrator’s race, religion, or background. Justice demands that we focus on the act and the individual, not on convenient stereotypes. This principle is the Islamic view of justice, which emphasises accountability and impartiality. An incident from the life of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) exemplifies this approach. Usamah ibn Zayd, a close companion, once interceded on behalf of a woman from a noble tribe who had committed theft, asking the Prophet to pardon her. The Prophet responded firmly, “By Allah, if Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad, were to steal, I would cut off her hand.” This profound statement demonstrates the Islamic principle that justice must be upheld without bias, favouritism, or regard for status, race, or lineage. In Islam, crime is addressed as an individual violation of moral and legal codes, not as a reflection of a community or group.

By clinging to racialised narratives, Western societies fail both the victims and the broader cause of justice. The Islamic creed and solutions teach us to look beyond stereotypes and prejudices, focusing instead on the root causes of crime and the systemic failures that allow it to persist. The Islamic system can protect the vulnerable, hold perpetrators accountable, and foster a culture where crime is recognised for what it is—a violation of human dignity—rather than an opportunity for scapegoating and division.

In doing so, we can move towards a world that sheds biases, upholds justice, and embraces a more inclusive and effective approach to addressing crime. The very system that the West stereotypes is one that can deliver justice to man, woman, and children, regardless of age, gender, colour, or creed.