Scotland grooming gangs inquiry opens with survivor testimony

Channel 5 reported that an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation by grooming gangs in Scotland opened on 11 November, after similar inquiries in other parts of the country. The inquiry will investigate Scotland's response to group-based child sex abuse over the past 30 years. Professor Alexis Jay, who wrote the 2014 report into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, chairs it.

Channel 5's report centred on Holly, a survivor who was 14 and living in care when the abuse began. She said she was taken to different locations across Edinburgh and abused repeatedly by a grooming gang. She estimated that between 25 and 50 men had been involved in her abuse. The men supplied alcohol, food, cigarettes, drugs and money, she said, and she had to compensate them.

In the Channel 5 interview, Holly said her social care records showed staff had recorded concerns that she was being groomed for sex, but that no one intervened. 'They saw it, they witnessed it,' she said. 'I told a sexual health worker at 14 years old that I was having sex with a 35-year-old man. People knew, but they didn't stop it.'

Channel 5 reported that the inquiry will examine the characteristics of perpetrators so that risk factors can be better understood. It will look at failures and deliberate concealment. It will consider what action is needed to address those failures, including whether new laws are required.

Professor Jay said: 'The inquiry cannot undo the harm that has been done, but it can seek the truth, it can identify failures, it can hold institutions to account.' In the Channel 5 interview, Holly said she wanted organisations and institutions held to account because they had enabled the abuse. She also questioned whether the inquiry would rely on institutions to supply information or obtain every piece of paperwork itself.

Channel 5 reported that Edinburgh City Council had repeated its apology to Holly and said her testimony had already helped make significant changes. The council said it would always report suspected criminality to police. Holly said those meant to care for her had been careless, and that a child who should have been protected was instead exploited.