Three Girls reveals the prejudice faced by working class teenagers in the UK

Every now and then, television really touches your heart. Who could not be moved by BBC1’s Three Girls, the true story of teenagers groomed and sexually abused by a predatory group of men in Rochdale? Pushed into taxis and sent to other cities to perform, rewarded with crumpled ten pound notes for having sex with total strangers.

For years, there have been reports of protracted police investigations into the grooming of vulnerable white girls, generally (but not always) by men from families of Pakistani origin. Reporters piecing together the stories have been called racists and the victims described as “making life choices”, whereas they were under the age of consent, and therefore victims of illegal sexual activity.

A recent report claimed that Britain was one of the most socially stagnant countries in Europe and events of the last week do nothing to disprove that charge. In squalid shopping precincts all over the country, every night of the week, teenage girls are still being groomed, accepting free food, cigarettes and booze, unaware that they will pay a heavy price for these favours.

Yesterday, Osman Ali from Rochdale appeared in court charged with six counts of raping a child aged under 13. A small number of evil men from one community continue to actively seek out very young white girls for underage sex, but (up to recently) few people were willing to confront this unpalatable truth. In multi-cultural Britain, this is our shame.

The events in Rochdale on which the BBC drama was based eventually resulted in 10 men being charged and nine convicted, but justice moves at a shockingly slow process. After the first victim came forward in 2008, it took the police eleven months to prepare a file for the CPS, who eventually decided there was not enough evidence to proceed. Eventually, a fresh investigation resulted in a trial in 2012. How did that young girl live through four years before her attackers were brought to justice? Since then, only one social worker has been sacked, after an independent inquiry found she had placed children in her care at “unwarranted risk of harm”. One of her clients, a young woman, depicted in Three Girls, was a 13-year-old with learning difficulties who had sex with a 60 year-old man. The inquiry also noted that another 12-year-old was interviewed about sex with older men, but the social worker recommended “no further action” should be taken. It’s hard not to conclude that these girls were pre-judged by professionals as silly slags not worth the effort, although they were guilty of no crime.

Watching Three Girls, it’s clear that Holly came from a loving family, and her initial behaviour – staying out overnight, drinking and hanging out with a group of unsupervised youngsters who had slipped through the social service net – was not very different from thousands of other girls around the country. This girl wasn’t a drug addict, violent or intrinsically bad, just a rebel who got swept up in something she did not know how to stop, after being told she would be killed if she spoke out.

As viewers were revolted by the scene in which Holly is raped by a curry delivery man and traded to his pals, a very different story of a young woman in trouble was in the news. Oxford student Lavinia Warner was found guilty of violently attacking her boyfriend –stabbing him with a bread knife after taking drugs. A serious crime which usually results in a custodial sentence, and yet the judge indicated may not impose one because of Lavinia’s “extraordinary talent”– after her barrister claimed she is making every effort to get her life “back on track” and “hopes to achieve her dream of becoming a surgeon”. Lavinia is seeing a counsellor and has promised to stay drug-free until sentencing in four months’ time. How can this middle class young woman, (who attended a private school in Milan) be judged so very differently to Holly and co in Rochdale, who couldn’t even get a fair hearing, when they were victims, not perpetrators?

Politicians of all parties talk about “realising young people’s potential” but the array of career choices open to pupils attending a sink school in poor areas like Rochdale, Bradford or the North East are not exactly wide. The challenge facing whoever is in charge after 8 June, is to ensure that the culture of ignorance in social services and the police which resulted in a shameful lack of respect granted to girls like Holly, is tackled head-on. The Lib Dems can promise votes at 16-years-old but that’s not going to grant teenagers any more apprenticeships or training. Working class girls like Holly deserve the same life choices as Lavinia – the same chance to excel and flourish, have a career and develop self-esteem. This can only be tackled at school. Let’s not blame parents; it’s natural for teenagers to rebel. Schools need to be centres of excellence, not a place to waste the best years of your life.