Restore Britain’s report Rape Gang Inquiry Report launched on Tuesday (16th June 2026) highlights institutional failures to meaningfully respond to and support survivors of group-based rape and sexual abuse. This report states that the “root cause” of this particular form of sexual violence and abuse is “immigration”. The report is focused on Pakistani Muslim men’s group-based offending.
First and foremost, we wish to commend the courage of the survivors who shared their horrific experiences, in their efforts to seek justice. At Rape Crisis England & Wales, we believe that any discussion of sexual violence must keep victims and survivors at its centre, ensuring their experiences are treated with dignity, accuracy, and care.
Misogyny and rape culture
Survivors of child rape, sexual abuse and exploitation (CRaSA) report having their traumatic experiences dismissed, and being blamed, criminalised or framed as somehow complicit in their own victimisation, with such alarming frequency that many never disclose again. When they do come forward, it is of utmost importance that they are heard, believed and supported by people they can trust, and who will not distort or conceal the truth any further.
Men from every culture and religion organise, cooperate, and share resources to sexually abuse women and girls. This happens within care homes, children’s homes, armies, virtually all organised religions, and a huge number of online communities. The most obvious characteristic of abusers is not race, religion, or class - it is sex. Whilst the rape gang inquiry report is new, the phenomena of men behaving in this way is not.
Those who let the perpetrators get away with it were invariably also embedded in institutions who are known to struggle with misogyny, racism, prejudice, and assumptions about children in care or from disadvantaged backgrounds. Again, this requires much more attention and research, to understand how and why those who could have intervened to protect women and girls failed to do so.
Stating the reality of patriarchy and rape culture more broadly does not mean that the intersecting identities of those who coerced, tortured, and raped girls in Oldham, Rotherham, Rochester or anywhere else is not important. On the contrary, the women who survived are clear that it is, and we support their calls for full and transparent investigation into their experiences and associated safeguarding failures.
Political failures and political framing
The lack of leadership on this issue has left these most grave crimes to become a political football and has created space for reports like this one to be published. Successive governments and the institutions responsible for safeguarding girls - schools, GPs, social care, police and more - have all failed to deal with grooming gangs. We welcome the significant efforts of the police-led Operation Beaconport which is reviewing and reopening cases of this kind which were mistakenly closed, but we are clear that much more must still be done to prevent this form of systematic child rape.
However, it is unhelpful and irresponsible to attribute sexual violence and abuse perpetration uniquely to specific races, ethnicities or religions. The solutions to tackling rape, sexual abuse and exploitation lie in joined-up efforts within and across the diverse array of communities and contexts who live in the UK. Framing the issue squarely in terms of immigration undermines joined-up, community-based responses to tackling misogyny and rape culture. Such framing also encourages people to believe that some are safe and others are dangerous, when in reality the fact and risks of sexual violence and abuse exist in all cultures, communities and contexts.
The need for better data
The police data on ethnicity and religion is poor, and not robust enough to be able to draw conclusions about who is more likely to do what to whom, and in what circumstances. What we do know, however, is that major public inquiries, inspections and data analysis have consistently found that perpetrators of group-based child sexual exploitation come from a range of racial and ethnic backgrounds.
A 2023 report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services concluded that the majority of offenders in the cases they reviewed were white, data from the National Police Chief's Council showed that in cases where ethnicity had been known, 70% of grooming gang suspects in 2023, and 63% in the first nine months of 2024, were white. And the Home Office's 2020 review of group-based child sexual exploitation concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support claims that any one ethnic group is disproportionately responsible at a national level.
In stating that we need better data, we do not seek to minimise the experiences of those individuals who have suffered at the hands of Pakistani Muslim men. All sexual violence is unacceptable and reprehensible, no matter the circumstances, or who has perpetrated it. What the survivors were subjected to in these cases was deserve justice, and answers.
We urge policymakers and commentators to focus on what is proven to make a difference for the overwhelming majority of survivors: well-resourced, quality-assured and specialist services, robust safeguarding and well supported professionals with reasonable caseloads, early intervention, improved criminal justice responses, and an education system that challenges harmful attitudes. Survivors deserve nothing less.
If you are affected by sexual violence and abuse, we have lots of information and support that might help: Get help after rape or sexual assault | Rape Crisis England & Wales.
You are not alone. Call our free 24/7 Support Line on 0808 500 2222 or chat online at 247sexualabusesupport.org.uk.