Independent MP Rupert Lowe unveiled a harrowing 219-page independent report Tuesday detailing the systematic sexual exploitation of at least 250,000 young—mostly white—British girls by predominantly Pakistani Muslim grooming gangs since the 1950s.
In a video on X, Lowe described the crimes as “pure, driven, unfettered evil.”
The survivor-led Rape Gang Inquiry, funded by over 20,000 public donations, compiles chilling testimonies from victims, whistleblowers, and experts. It shows documentation of coordinated networks that have been operating in at least 149 local authority districts—which equals nearly 40% of the UK—involving drugging, gang rape, trafficking, torture, blackmail via recordings, and forced pregnancies.
The inquiry says perpetrators, overwhelmingly men of Muslim (primarily Pakistani) heritage, exploited vulnerabilities in care homes and schools with complicity from police, social services, the National Health Services, and politicians fearing racism accusations. It highlights cultural and religious factors, including interpretations of Islamic doctrine enabling enmity toward non-Muslims, and criticizes post-war immigration policies for enabling the scandal.
Lowe, in the foreword, declared Britain faces an “immigration problem,” not racism, and called for prosecutions, deportations, and severe penalties. Survivor Sammy Woodhouse and a panel including MPs Esther McVey and others led the effort after official inquiries fell short.
The report outlines a series of urgent, wide-ranging recommendations to address the systemic failures that enabled grooming gangs, deliver justice for victims, and prevent future abuse, including mandatory recording of ethnoreligious patterns in child sexual exploitation, harsher sentencing and penalties (including reinstituting the death penalty in extreme cases), and prioritized deportation of foreign nationals and offenders with dual citizenship. It also demands accountability from British institutions and new targeted laws for gang-based child sexual exploitation—along with the release of the full victim testimonies.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and senior government officials had not issued any comments to the report at the time of writing—not completely surprising, as the inquiry was independent and non-statutory.
