LONDON: Healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom have demanded an apology from Home Secretary Suella Braverman for her “false, Islamophobic and racist” allegations against British Pakistanis, putting them in danger.
Speaking to Sky News last week, Braverman, who is of Indian origin, stereotyped British-Pakistani men as members of so-called grooming gangs who are involved in “pursuing, raping, drugging and harming vulnerable English girls.”
She suggested that the diaspora “hold cultural values totally at odds with British values” and view women in a “demeaning and illegitimate way.”
Over 30 healthcare organisations with memberships consisting of thousands of healthcare professionals from diverse backgrounds have written a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, drawing his attention to the home secretary’s claims that link Pakistanis to sex grooming gangs, which contradicts the government’s own evidence.
The letter expressed their profound disappointment with the recent comments made by the Home Secretary that stereotype and discriminate against the British Pakistani community with false accusations, Geo News reported.
The professionals referred to a Home Office report from 2020, which found that group-based child sexual exploitation offenders were most commonly white and that it was not possible to conclude that one particular ethnic group was disproportionately over-represented.
The healthcare professionals expressed their concerns about the impact of cuts in the public sector and community services on young people’s vulnerability to child sexual exploitation and called for multi-agency partnerships to protect vulnerable young people.
The letter also criticised Braverman’s use of inflammatory and divisive rhetoric, which they argued was sensationalist and contradicted the evidence. They urged the government to implement impactful evidence-based actions that require a whole system response rather than singling out one particular ethnic group.
They also reminded the Home Secretary that her words have consequences, citing Boris Johnson’s comments in 2014 that led to a 375 percent increase in hate crimes targeting Muslim women.
The professionals urged the home secretary to reflect on her irresponsible framing of the complex and serious issue of child sexual exploitation and apologise for her statement.
