Abuse victim calls for local inquiry
BBC/Emma GlasbeyAn abuse victim has called on the government to order Bradford Council to carry out an inquiry into sexual exploitation in the city.
Fiona Goddard, who was groomed and sexually abused by gangs of men while living in a care home from 2008, said she was failed "multiple times" by social services and police.
She spoke as the home secretary announced plans for a nationwide review of grooming gang evidence, and government-backed local inquiries in five areas.
Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe the home secretary was "welcome to see the work agencies do in Bradford district to keep children safe at any time".
The Bradford District Safeguarding Children Partnership said last week a public inquiry examining child sex abuse in the city was "unlikely to provide us with any new learning".
Ms Goddard, who has waived her legal right to life-long anonymity, said getting justice was not just about her abusers going to prison, but accountability by "professionals that enabled it".
She said: "I was in the care home and I was getting abused.
"After about four months of getting abused, social services, the police force, the care homes, all of them were fully aware and I was told it was my lifestyle choice and I had to go and deal with it."
The debate around a national inquiry into grooming gangs was recently brought into the spotlight by tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has criticised the prime minister for not calling for one.
The Labour government had initially rejected calls for a new inquiry, saying it would enact the reforms set out by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) which was published in 2022.
However, on Thursday Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced an audit into the current scale and nature of "gang-based exploitation" across the country, as well as local reviews into grooming in some areas.
One of those inquiries will be in Oldham, Greater Manchester, as well as four other pilot areas yet to be named.
'Abuse at very high level'
Ms Goddard said Bradford authorities had already made it clear that "they don't want to do an inquiry into themselves".
"So the government can't just leave it down to the local councils to decide if they're going to be investigated, they're going to have to enforce it."
She added: "As much as the council has downplayed it, the abuse in Bradford is at a very high level and it will completely blow most cities out of the water."
Ms Goddard was one of two girls abused after they arrived at a Bradford children's home in 2008.
In 2019, nine men were found guilty of offences including rape and inciting child prostitution after a trial lasting more than six weeks.
Hinchcliffe said: "The crimes that were committed against Fiona were truly appalling.
"Fiona's case was profiled as part of the Independent Review into CSE in Bradford published in 2021.
"We repeat now that we are truly sorry that agencies were not able to better protect her at the time.
"The learning from that case has been put into practice so agencies can better protect children now."
She said the council "welcomed " the home secretary's announcements, adding: "It's not clear yet whether the home secretary with her latest announcement wants to go to local places which have never reviewed CSE, or places like ours which have done a significant amount of investigations in this area.
"We remain focused on prosecuting historic crimes, as well as protecting children in the here and now."
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