Baroness Warsi: Some Pakistani Men Think Young White Girls Are "Fair Game" for Sex Abuse

LONDON EVENING STANDARD: Some Pakistani men believe “white girls are fair game” for sexual abuse, the Cabinet Minister and Tory co-chairman Baroness Warsi says today.

In an exclusive interview Sayeeda Warsi, Britain’s most senior Muslim politician, calls on mosques and community leaders to condemn “a small minority” of their members with racist and sexist views.

“There is a small minority of Pakistani men who believe that white girls are fair game,” she told the Evening Standard. “And we have to be prepared to say that. You can only start solving a problem if you acknowledge it first.”

Her comments follow the horrific Rochdale sexual grooming case, in which a gang of Pakistani men preyed on young white girls. Lady Warsi is the most senior political leader to say publicly that racist and misogynistic attitudes in sections of the community were partly responsible for what happened.

“This small minority who see women as second class citizens, and white women probably as third class citizens, are to be spoken out against,” she said. Baroness Warsi, a 41-year-old former lawyer who in 2010 became the first Muslim woman to sit in Cabinet, decided to break her silence on the controversy to encourage other leaders of the community to speak up and change attitudes. » | Joe Murphy | Friday, May 18, 2012

Read the full interview »

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Arrests Made in Second Rochdale Sex Grooming Scandal

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A second sex grooming case has been uncovered by police who smashed the Rochdale child sex ring.

Several men have been arrested by Greater Manchester Police on suspicion of sexually abusing the same girl.

The alleged abuse is believed to have taken place over a six-year period when the girl was in her teens.

Sources who spoke to the Manchester Evening News described her as ‘extremely vulnerable’. Detectives have carried out video interviews with the girl, who told them she knew the men only by nicknames.

A string of suspects were tracked down by officers and a number of arrests have now been made.

The men are thought to be from Asian and Afro-Caribbean backgrounds.

It comes just days after nine Asian men from Rochdale and Oldham were jailed over the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 13-years-old. » | Julie Henry | Saturday, May 12, 2012

Aisha’d 'ave Known!
MAIL ONLINE: A barrister claiming £33million compensation from her sex-scandal legal firm today warned she could 'lose the will to live' unless she wins.

Aisha Bijlani broke down in tears at the employment tribunal into race discrimination and victimisation which she claims she suffered at prestigious legal chambers Four New Square.

She told the hearing she may never recover from her ordeal at the hands of her bosses.

She has already accused the senior clerk, Lizzie Wiseman, of having extra-marital affairs with two former heads of chambers, Justin Fenwick QC, a Deputy High Court judge, and Roger Stewart QC, a part-time judge.

Dr Bijlani said they had driven her to clinical depression and left her £7million out of pocket in lost earnings to date. In total, she is demanding £33million, plus interest.

Today, she told Central London Employment Tribunal: 'Unless I win my case and am vindicated, I have no doubt I will not be able to work again and I may lose the will to live. What [the] chambers and Roger have done to me should not have been allowed to occur.'

She continued: 'Roger Stewart made my life a misery and exacerbated my condition as much as he could. From being a very hard-working professional who took great pride in her work and her home, I feel I have lost my identity and my life has fallen apart.'

Mr Stewart, 46, a married father of three, was not in the tribunal yesterday. But 44-year-old Mrs Wiseman, a mother-of-four who now lives with him, sat listening to the evidence.

Several times, Dr Bijlani wept in the witness box, and at one point the hearing was halted after she ran from the room crying.

Dr Bijlani accuses the firm of hiring racist legal clerks who regarded her as an 'educated wog' and constantly undermined her, the tribunal has heard.

When in February 2006 she complained to Mrs Wiseman and Mr Stewart, then head of chambers, she says he branded her a 'failure at the Bar'.

She told the hearing: 'I had done him no harm and found it difficult to understand why he could be so cruel for no reason. I have always tried to help people and still can't rationalise his cruelty.'

Indian-born Dr Bijlani, who is in her early forties and trained as a doctor before switching to a career at the Bar, said she was subsequently victimised by Mr Stewart and Mrs Wiseman and now suffered from depression.

She said: 'I still have difficulty getting to sleep and often toss and turn for hours or just cry. Tearful barrister claiming £33m for victimisation says she may 'lose the will to live' if her case fails >>> Sam Greenhill | Friday, October 16, 2009

Thousands Attend Pope’s US Open-Air Mass
Watch BBC Video of Pope Benedict XVI’s US Open Air Mass
BBC: Pope Benedict XVI has been celebrating an open-air Mass at the Nationals stadium in Washington DC in front of more than 40,000 people.

This is the first such event organised for the Pope's six-day visit to the United States.

He spoke of the sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic clergy in the US, saying no words of his could describe the pain and harm inflicted.

Later, the Pope will hold an inter-faith meeting.

On the subject of child abuse, he said: "No words of mine can describe the pain and the harm inflicted by the sexual abuse of minors.

"It is important that those who have suffered be given loving pastoral attention. Nor can I adequately describe the damage that has occurred within the community of the Church."

Efforts to protect children must continue, he said.

For the third time in as many days, he has done what many Catholics have been asking for years - he has condemned and publicly accepted full responsibility for the crimes of sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests in the United States, says the BBC's David Willey who is travelling with the Pope during his visit.

Many members of the congregation were immigrants from various countries in central and South America and they cheered the Pope wildly when he added some remarks in fluent Spanish, praising the vitality of their Christian faith. Thousands Attend Pope's US Mass >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

The Pope Attacks the US Sex Abuse Scandal
Watch BBC video of Pope Benedict XVI on the sex abuse scandal
BBC: Pope Benedict XVI has criticised US bishops for their handling of child sex scandals, saying their response to the crisis had sometimes been very poor.

He laid part of the blame for the crisis, of which he feels "deeply ashamed", on a breakdown in US values.

On his first official US visit, the Pope said he hoped the "time of trial" would help start a Church purification.

On Thursday, the German Pontiff is due to celebrate Mass for 45,000 people at a new Washington baseball stadium.

On Wednesday morning, thousands of guests welcomed the Pope, who was 81 on Wednesday, to his first White House meeting with President George W Bush.

Problematic faith

Pope Benedict's remarks on the sex abuse scandal came at a prayer service with hundreds of US bishops. Pope Attacks US Sex Abuse Record >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)