As a small child, the very worst thing that I could ever imagine was something happening to our dog, Siby. Bedtime would, occasionally, involve trying to frighten myself to sleep after ‘lights out’; if that is, Enid Blyton wasn’t doing the trick with her tales of midnight feasts and apple pie beds. Diving under the covers, my darkened mind’s eye would fill with images of a solitary figure, dressed in black from head-to-toe complete with matching balaclava. His only intention to scale the outside wall of our semi before clambering in through the bathroom window. And then, just like that, he was off. But not before tucking a wriggling Siby under his arm. British Muslim writer Yasmin Alibhai-Brown quotes one of the convicted men’s wives as talking about the sexual abuse that occurs behind closed doors. Nevertheless, she notes that this group of women didn’t have much understanding of consensual sex. Thus notions of women’s ownership of their bodies are reinforced as being inherently a western phenomenon. Not only does this do a disservice to the Muslim plural identity — it also places the blame for being raped on the victims Without ever leaving as much as a box of Milk Tray in his wake. These nightmares of my own making were in sharp contrast, yet very possibly linked to, tales of a childhood ‘up north’ near the Scottish border with which my mother used to regale me. Without any doubt, the most frightening feature being how no one ever locked their back doors. It was at once both fascinating and macabre. Writing this, I am reminded of something else my mother used to tell me. That the older we get, the more we tend to romanticise childhood. Though she might have said this simply to try and put a stop to my worrying about Siby, I was recently reminded of her words. Back when I was hanging with my old pal, the Beeb. Which, it must be said, does get it right on occasion. Three Girls is one of those times. This is the three-part BBC dramatisation of the Rochdale sex abuse scandal, which along with others across England, came to be known as the Asian Sex Gang cases. This referred to instances of prolonged predatory behaviour by groups of mainly Pakistani men towards underage, vulnerable white girls. The attacks precluded periods of calculated grooming, whereby one would choose one girl and lead her into believing that they were in a relationship. Being older, the men would provide treats to the schoolgirls. Thus free kebabs and chips were appreciatively received. As were the free flow cigarettes and alcohol. At least someone somewhere was paying them attention. Yet it was a childhood robbed. Trafficked. Passed round like a ball. Raped. Time and time again. Their bodies sold for profit. This was no isolated incident. Just to add a little perspective: these so-called Asian Sex Gangs also operated in the Rotherham area from 1997-2003, involving more than 1,400 victims. The Rochdale abuse is said to have taken place over the two-year period, from 2008-2010. Yet it took two additional years to get the case to court; two years to see the nine men sentenced between four and 19 years for crimes against five girls, aged 13-15. This is the focus of Three Girls. And it is an important story to tell. The thing that it really brings home is how none of the adults is absolved of guilt. From the obvious predators to social services that casually dismiss these underage age girls as being willingly engaged in prostitution to the Crown Prosecution that determines how none would make a ‘reliable’ witness to the police that keep one of these children in a prison cell overnight on pimping charges. This is to say nothing of the unilateral decision to strategically circumvent the system to allow for the admission of the testimony of one particular girl without calling her to the stand due to her ‘volatile’ nature. Thus the Crown Prosecution — with the complicity of the police — chose to indict her, without either her knowledge or consent. Meaning that this child was named along with the co-defendants on trumped up charges of supplying girls; a move that saw he put on the sex offenders’ register alongside the men who raped her and the others. Three Girls is a factual-based account of what it is like to be on the margins in Broken Britain. Here, there are two distinct groups. On the one hand, the white girls who are seen as easy targets by the predatory Pakistani men; while the authorities charged with protecting the former judge them to be little more than ‘slags’ who are ‘asking’ for it. Both groups are working-class, whereas the men’s skin colour and, in some cases, clothing are visible indicators of otherness. Yet, here, as elsewhere, the power rests with them. Which upends myopic notions of white privilege. Though, of course, it may be argued that this did ultimately come into play. In other words, we still need to ask: had the victims been from within the Pakistani community would justice have been delivered? The well-respected British Muslim writer and commentator Yasmin Alibhai-Brown interviewed several wives and one daughter of the convicted Rochdale sex offenders. And she may or may not have (unwittingly) done more harm than good to the community in terms of its relations with the authorities. For despite quoting one woman as referring to the culture of sexual and domestic abuse that occurs behind closed doors — Alibhai-Brown goes on to muse how those with whom she spoke didn’t have much understanding of consensual sex. The fallout of this being that once more such notions pertaining to women’s ownership of their bodies, including the right to say no, are reinforced as being inherently a western phenomenon. Which does a disservice to the plurality of the Muslim identity. While also inadvertently placing the blame for being raped on the victims. Indeed, one of the women interviewed told her that these white girls are “filthy”. Again, they are ‘asking for it’. Though it has been left to Muslim peer Lord Nazir Ahmed to mansplain the situation, which he did some years ago. And it goes something like this: British Muslim men see their white male peers sowing their wild oats and yet they have nothing to look forward to but to marry cousins ‘from the village’ back home. His call for an end to first-cousin arranged marriages indirectly blamed Pakistani woman for their husbands preying on white girls; by indirectly suggesting that they lacked sexual prowess. Thereby feeding into the dialectics of the colonised mind that dictates female sexual enjoyment is the exclusive preserve of the West. This singular identity was also behind the police’s initial refusal to see this case go all the way to court. That the girls were considered unreliable witnesses was linked to the ethnicity of abusers. In other words, the fear was that any such moves towards prosecution would be seen as state institutions casting the white female as needing protection from the sex-crazed brown man. Or more bluntly put: the innocent white victims versus the dark skinned abusers. Thus in the case of the Rochdale sex offenders — their ethnicity wasn’t an issue but a fact. And so, to save its own skin the police for two years prioritised the brown adult man above the white girl child. What we come away with after watching Three Girls is the immense bravery of the victims. They were up against an entire system — not just the men who raped them for a bit of fun and for some extra money on the side, cash-in-hand. Yet recognising their bravery isn’t sufficient. The Rochdale serial rapists are serving their time; indeed the case is said to have set a precedent for sex trafficking crimes committed within the United Kingdom. But this is not full justice. Not when one is reminded that no investigating police officer has ever had to face disciplinary action. And given that the convictions were secured with no additional evidence in the two year pre-trial period makes it nothing less than a travesty. There are those of us who are counting the days to a government led by Jeremy Corbyn. The original Milk Tray Man of British politics. The writer is the Deputy Managing Editor, Daily Times. She can be reached at mirandahusain@me.com and tweets @humeiwei Published in Daily Times, October 15th 2017.