Fiona Goddard, who was raped, abused and exploited by a grooming gang in a children’s home in Bradford, slammed ‘systematic failures’ of public services that did not protect kids
A grooming gangs victim has said she had to “fight tooth and nail” and expose people in the media before the authorities would open an investigation into her case.
Fiona Goddard, who was raped, abused and exploited by a grooming gang in a children’s home in Bradford, slammed “systematic failures” of public services that did not protect kids. And she hit out at attitudes by officials who described her as “the ring leader of abuse” who was “running a brothel” in her teens.
Ms Goddard, who waived her right to anonymity, has said she was raped by more than 50 men in Bradford. She was just 14 when the men first began to use drink, drugs and violence to groom and sexually exploit them. In 2019, nine men who raped and abused two teenage girls, including Ms Goddard, were jailed.
Today, she made a plea to other victims to come forward and provide evidence when the newly announced national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal begins. “We can’t make a difference without people speaking up and suffering in silence,” she said.
It follows Baroness Louise Casey’s major report into the scandal which yesterday uncovered a catalogue of failures which saw victims horrendously let down. Among her horrific findings, the crossbench peer said “too many” abusers had faced lesser charges, with blame instead shifted towards the children they targeted. She said girls were viewed as “wayward teenagers” or “collaborators in their abuse” rather than raped children.
READ MORE: Tories slammed for ‘smug’ grooming gangs response as shameless email revealed
The review demanded ministers quash the convictions of victims who were unjustly prosecuted for crimes including child prostitution.
Ms Goddard, who was asked about victims ending up with criminal records, said she also felt like blame was put on her. She told a press conference in central London: “When I was 15, I was described as being the ring leader of the abuse when I was in the house with adults aged between 22 and 44 and I was 15 years old.
“I was constantly referred to with stuff like that, and I was referred to as running a brothel at 16 or 17 year old. The focus has constantly been on these victims and the stigma then attached with that has impacted lives. Where damage has been done, people now have a responsibility to fix that damage. It cannot be forgotten and it cannot be moved on from because people’s lives have been severely impacted by this, and they deserve to have the damage fixed.”
She added that she had to fight to get a police probe into her case started, despite telling them about the abuse she suffered. “I had to fight tooth and nail and expose people in the media just to get an investigation started,” she said.
READ MORE: Tories slammed for ‘smug’ grooming gangs response as shameless email revealed
Ms Goddard made the comments at a press conference organised by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who has been accused of politicising the grooming gangs scandal. The politician on Monday attacked Labour in the Commons for being slow on calling a national inquiry, despite the Tories having failed to do so during their 14 years in power. She claimed it was left to the Conservatives to “force” action on grooming gangs “time and time again”.
Lib Dem MP Josh Babarinde, who is a victim of child sexual abuse, said he was “disgusted” by Ms Badenoch’s use of party politics in such a sensitive debate. “Victims and survivors deserve more than a smug ‘I told you so’, diatribe,” he said. Baroness Casey also said she was “disappointed” by the Opposition’s approach.
Ms Badenoch insisted she is not “not doing politics now” as she sat on a panel with campaigners and survivors. She criticised people who sought to “tone police those who are pointing out when something has gone wrong”.
Ms Goddard called for “all the political stuff” to be put aside now and to fix relationships that have been “broken through systematic failures for years and years”. “This needs to be focused on survivors and the government need to do a lot of work to rebuild up trust for services and for the victims to able to trust to come forward, to be able to open up and be able to engage in an inquiry, because without the engagement, then we’re just not going to get anywhere,” she said.
In a passionate plea to other victims, she said: “I would encourage victims to come forward, because even though we have been failed so majorly for so long, together, we can do this. We can’t make a difference without people speaking up and suffering in silence. Things will never change, and people, hopefully can have the courage to start speaking up and coming forward and fighting.”
She called for ministers to discuss bringing in “survival-led education within schools and services, so we can start tackling and preventing this crime from happening while the inquiry is ongoing”.
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