Report: Girls As Young As 14 Lured Into Forced Sex By Gangs Operating In London

Vulnerable women and girls as young as 14 are being lured into forced sexual exploitation by gangs operating across London.

According to evidence uncovered by BBC news, vulnerable girls and young women are being exploited by groups of men then later coerced into sex, sometimes as “payment” for drug debts imposed by the gangs that controlled them. Others were groomed just for sex.

The report also said that the police were going to re-examine hundreds of past child sexual exploitation cases

BBC reports: Our evidence – based on interviews with dozens of people in the capital over several weeks, including five survivors of gang-based violence – also shows how girls are often lured by groups of men into dealing drugs, trading weapons and stealing phones.

One police officer in London said young girls and women were the “lowest rung” in gangs and were groomed and exploited “for everything”.

Public attention on grooming gangs has often centred on the north of England. A government-commissioned report last year found in three regions – Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire – there was enough evidence to show “disproportionate numbers of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds amongst suspects for group-based child sexual exploitation”.

Our investigation reveals a complex picture in London, with gangs from a range of ethnic backgrounds, including white, operating widely in the capital and frequently exploiting young women.

Last year, Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan said there was no “indication of […] grooming gangs” – of the type seen in Rotherham and other towns – operating in the capital.

However, a spokesperson for Sir Sadiq recently told the BBC he wanted to support police to do everything possible to tackle “all child sexual exploitation in the capital, including grooming gangs”.

‘I didn’t think I was a victim’

Kelly, not her real name, said she had been groomed by three white men in the capital. She was initially forced to deal drugs but said the exploitation then got worse.

“I had no money, felt neglected and saw an opportunity to feel part of something so I made some bad connections and before long I was selling drugs on the streets. But that turned into having sex to keep people on side if we owed them, or [as an enticement for them to] buy drugs off me and the gang,” she said.

“I didn’t feel like I was groomed or exploited. I didn’t think I was a victim. It’s taken me a while to realise I was used and manipulated.

“It gave my life purpose for a bit and I felt needed,” she added. “I didn’t feel that at home. I was looking for something because I [was] lonely and bored.”

Girls inside gangs “cannot say no to sex”, said Det Sgt John Knox, head of the Metropolitan Police child exploitation team in the south London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark.

“Within that gang world, the girls are at the lowest rung and they have to do as they’re told. And that includes sexually.”

Girls were not exploited, he said, “predominately and primarily for sex” by gangs. He added: “The girls are groomed and exploited for everything – within that is sex.”

Knox believes there are at least 60 children in his area of south London who are being exploited by gangs.

He said the girls are as young as 13 but “15 would be the upper limit”.

“The reality is, if a girl can’t say no, she’s being raped and that’s how we look at it as the police.”