I have concerns .....
Do not turn the trauma of survivors into a circus.
I don't agree with this. Especially at this stage.
I can only hope proper safeguarding measures have been taken, trauma informed experts have been consulted, and there is an aftercare plan for those survivors. This is turning their trauma into a circus otherwise.
It would be another thing if the independent and national inquiry both would have been completed with some sort of conclusive decision agreed upon across the board - whether it went deeper enough or not, but some sort of consensus beyond doubt.
At this stage, it is just a political stunt. Like Kemi did by doing a press conference. I would urge people involved to please think about the safety of those survivors and their families - both mental healthwise and physical safety from the gangs and drug cartels depending on where the survivors are still residing. And have a comprehensive aftercare plan for the survivors.
The safety and wellbeing of the survivors should be at the heart of any such activity. There is no justice for them if in the process of the inquiry you end up re-traumatising them in even worse ways. Please. Think carefully on what you are doing and what is actually needed.
The survivors wouldn't know the affect it will have on them unless they have had these conversations with a trauma informed expert who told them what to expect. How they will relive it all. Not everyone is capable of taking it on. Most think they can, and are nudged to do so, because of whatever personal gain of the one nudging, but they wouldn't know. This is why I hope there is some aftercare plan. Don’t just coerce them to do your bidding so you get what you want, actually care about their wellbeing.
There is a huge portion of the society who are so eager for quick justice because they want to wash away their hands - the guilt they have in enabling the whole grooming and rape scandal via their silence or by not believing it before that they will push through any such things so they get some answers. That they are seen to be taking the fight. And in the process they don't care if they end up causing more harm. We ought to be careful. At least those with their heads still screwed on. I instinctively don't like this move. At all.
The majority of the people didn't care about these girls and dismissed their stories. And now everyone wants to play the hero, and still not care about these survivors and victims. This is why I have advocated for and helping with the National Archive for Survivors of Grooming Gangs, because politicians will do what they do, we need to have a proper national reckoning and not harm the survivors and victims in the process. By the end of the day, all I am saying is to be mindful. And please take every measure possible, with safeguarding in mind, for the wellbeing of the survivors. That should be at the heart of it.
This is what I want, and have been advocating for it for a while now. Just so nobody is confused or start making up ridiculous stories:
1. I want the perpetrators of rape and grooming gangs to get the death penalty - failing to do so - deportations at the least. Into the sea for all I care.
2. I want their entire contact lists to be investigated, and I want their dependants to be deported as well.
3. I want us to map out where most of them are coming from, beyond anecdotal evidence, a thorough data collation so it is proven beyond doubt, and I want a complete stop of immigration from those places.
4. I want the government to thoroughly look into the connections between drug cartels, bogus empty shops that somehow still keep full inventory on display and afford staff, the ghettos of parallel communities, local councillors in those areas and their links with mosques, political parties and their links with vote banks from those communities, and the phenomenon of rape and grooming gangs. They are all linked, and many many people need to be deported and have their citizenships revoked and then deported.
5. But most of all, I want proper measures to be put in place so that the survivors and victims are not used as political tools or as just a means of washing away your guilt for not speaking up for them or believing in them before. I want them to get the proper care and support needed, so they can put their lives back together and we reach the conclusive point of never again. And we stop this from happening currently as well.
Just so we are clear. Raising concerns over one thing that a popular person might be doing doesn't mean that I am against it all. It just means I care enough to voice my concerns regardless of if it gets me negative feedback by anonymous accounts online, or that I want to burn all bridges with the people I am criticising. A lot of you out there need to grow the hell up, and be quick about it.