By Zuri Omer
The debate over child sexual exploitation (CSE) in the UK has been deliberately muddied by misinformation, racial prejudice, and a fixation on so-called “Muslim grooming gangs.” This is not accidental. It serves a political purpose, deflecting attention from systemic failures while scapegoating entire communities. One of the most damaging contributions to this narrative is the 2017 Quilliam report, which claimed that 84% of grooming gang offenders were of South Asian heritage. The numbers were seized upon by the media and politicians alike, but they were built on shaky foundations. The methodology was deeply flawed, and the conclusions were not only unsupported but harmful.
The Quilliam report stands as a stark example of how bad evidence can exacerbate existing problems. Its heavy reliance on media sources, rather than verified data, severely undermines its credibility. Critical questions remain unanswered about how the report’s conclusions were reached, including the selective use of anecdotal evidence over a comprehensive dataset.
The report’s tendency to conflate group-based CSE with other forms of child sexual abuse further complicates the picture. Child sexual exploitation takes many forms—including familial abuse, online grooming, and individual offending—yet the Quilliam report’s reductive approach focused narrowly on one specific and racialised type of offending. This oversimplification not only distorts the reality of CSE but also risks neglecting the broader spectrum of abuse.
Moreover, the lack of peer review or external validation of the report’s findings casts further doubt on its reliability. In an area as critical as child protection, where the stakes are immeasurably high, such methodological failings are not merely academic failings but have real-world consequences. The media—always eager for sensationalism—ran with the story. Headlines screamed about “Muslim grooming gangs,” reinforcing stereotypes and embedding Islamophobia into public consciousness. Politicians invoked these numbers in debates and policy decisions, amplifying the damage. What this did was shift the spotlight away from systemic issues and onto South Asian communities.
Meanwhile, the victims of CSE—the people this debate should centre on—were sidelined. The narrow focus on “Muslim grooming gangs” meant that many cases of abuse were ignored, particularly those that didn’t fit the racialised narrative. Studies consistently show that the majority of CSE offenders are White, reflecting national demographics. By obsessing over a single profile, countless victims of abuse by other offenders have been left unsupported, their suffering rendered invisible.
Funnily enough, Priti Patel as Home Secretary commissioned a review on group-based CSE in 2020 Home Office’s 2020 and it was a rare example of a more measured approach. It acknowledged the limitations of existing data and resisted the urge to make sweeping claims about the demographics of offenders. Crucially, it confirmed that offenders come from a range of ethnic backgrounds, mirroring the ethnic makeup of the country.
More recently, the Hydrant Programme, the national policing programme that supports the vulnerability sector to create a unified and strategic response to child sexual abuse and exploitation, produced a CSE Taskforce report in November 2024. This report found that of the victims who self-recorded an ethnicity, 85% were White. Similarly, the suspects were 83% White and 7% were Asian.
Screenshots From Hydrant’s CSE Taskforce November 2024 Report
The Hydrant report also tells us that despite its prominence in mainstream discourse, group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) accounts for 5% of all CSAE cases and 26% of all group-based offending occurred within the family environment.
Despite this evidence, the media and leading politicians have continued to push a falsely racialised view of this crime. The harm done by the “Muslim grooming gang” narrative goes beyond statistics and policing. It has stoked Islamophobia and deepened racial divisions. Hate crimes against Muslims have surged, with many directly referencing these narratives.
To illustrate the broader reality of CSE, consider the following data also drawn from the Hydrant Programme’s analysis of police-recorded group-based child sexual abuse cases in 2023. Nearly half of suspects (48%) were minors themselves, aged between 10 and 17.
| Age Group of Suspects | Percentage (%) |
| 10-17 years | 48% |
| 18-24 years | 30% |
| 25-34 years | 15% |
| 35+ years | 7% |
This data underscores the complexity of the issue. Simplistic narratives fail not only the victims but also the broader cause of justice. The focus must be on systemic reform, grounded in facts, rather than stoking racialised fears.
The legacy of flawed reports like Quilliam’s is a toxic one. It has deliberately pushed a dangerous political narrative that has led to violence and will inevitably lead to more violence if not confronted with facts. Those facts are simple: group-based CSE is not very common, there is not enough ethnicity data on this particular crime, and where there is data, there is nothing to suggest that it is disproportionately committed by Asian/Muslim men on White girls.