[Want even more content from FPM? Sign up for FPM+ to unlock exclusive series, virtual town-halls with our authors, and more—now for just $3.99/month. Click here to sign up.]

While their media and politicians shy away from acknowledging the obvious, the United Kingdom is caught in a disturbing pattern of rape gang scandals involving predominantly Pakistani-origin Muslim men. These criminal networks have exploited defenseless young girls and subjected them to horrific sexual abuse. Many have been murdered in the most brutal and unimaginable ways. Yet the British media has always labeled these perpetrators as “Asian” while reporting on such cases. People have had enough, and now, this willfully and craftily committed inaccuracy on the part of media and politicians alike has sparked widespread criticism for its insensitivity, and rightly so.

Asia, the largest continent on the planet, is home to over 40 diverse countries, and this blanket term unfairly implicates communities far removed from these barbaric crimes. What do they mean by claiming that Asian men have been raping and killing thousands of British girls? Are they Buddhists from Japan? Hindus from Nepal? Jains from India? Using the term “Asian” for organized gangs consisting of men of a specific shared identity dilutes the accountability of the cultural factors that motivate them to indulge in such heinous activities.

Let’s delve into the specifics of some of the more popular grooming gang cases, the individuals involved, and their backgrounds.

In one of the earliest high-profile cases reported in 2012, nine men were convicted of grooming and sexually exploiting young girls in Rochdale. The gang members were Shabir Ahmed, Adil Khan, and Abdul Aziz, among others, of Pakistani Muslim origin. Ahmed, described as the ringleader, repeatedly justified his actions with reference to Islamic teaching.

In 2014, a government-commissioned report, commonly referred to as the Jay Report, uncovered the fact that over 1,400 children — some as young as 11 — were abused in the town of Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. Some were doused in petrol and threatened with being set on fire; others were threatened with guns and forced to watch “brutally violent rapes.” The perpetrators were of Pakistani descent and had names including Iqlak Yousaf, Nabeel Kurshid, Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar, Tanweer Ali, Salah Ahmed El-Hakam, and Asif Ali.

In 2018, investigations in Telford revealed harrowing details about the sexual abuse of up to 1,000 girls over four decades. Again, the majority of the offenders were of Pakistani Muslim origin. Survivors narrated how they were beaten, trafficked, and raped by men who operated through organized networks.

Again, in 2018, 20 men were convicted of sexually abusing at least 15 young girls over several years in Huddersfield. The gang members, including Mohammed Akram, Niaz Ahmed, and Zahid Hassan, hailed from Pakistan. But in this case, some perpetrators also hailed from Bangladesh, another Islamic country in South Asia, giving tough competition to Pakistan in Islamic jihad and all things inspired by it. Their crimes involved systematic grooming, drugging, and abuse.

The Newcastle sex abuse ring was comprised of seventeen men and a woman who sexually abused teen girls and young women from 2010 to 2014. Dubbed “Operation Sanctuary,” this case led to the conviction of 18 men and one woman, including Mohammed Ali, Nashir Uddin, Monjur Choudhury, Taherul Alam, Habibur Rahim, Badrul Hussain, Carolann Gallon, Saiful Islam, AbdulHamid Minoyee, Prabhat Nelli, Abdul Sabe, Jahangir Zaman, Nadeem Aslam, Mohammed Azram, Yassar Hussain, Redwan Siddquee, and Mohibur Rahman. While most of these convicts were of Pakistani heritage, others were Muslims from countries including Bangladesh, Turkey, Iran, and Iran.

In a more recent case of 2022, seven men were jailed for a raft of historic rape charges against a vulnerable minor. Amjad Hussain, Nazir Khan, Kamran Hussain, Imran Sabir, Hassan Basharat, Baber Hussain, and Usman Sultan were the perpetrators.

One has to be exceedingly dimwitted not to identify the obvious pattern here.

By using the term “Asian,” the media and the political elites attempt to distance Islam and Pakistan from these crimes, and in the process, they implicate an entire continent’s population, including Indians, Chinese, Japanese, and others who have no connection to these crimes. Blanket labeling not only perpetuates harmful stereotypes, but also alienates innocent communities and acquits communities and cults that are specifically, particularly, and solely involved in such criminalities.

Recognizing how some perpetrators have invoked Islamic teachings to justify their actions is crucial. For instance, Shabir Ahmed, the ringleader in the Rochdale case, described his victims as “white trash,” and claimed superiority over them due to his faith. One cannot simply overlook how many of the convicted gang members justified their horrific actions through interpretations of their religious texts and teachings. The media reluctance to specify their Pakistani Muslim backgrounds reflects destructive political correctness and shameful fear of offending the ever-delicate sensibilities of Muslims. This ultimately undermines efforts to combat the grooming networks.