In a significant development, numerous victims of grooming gangs who were wrongly convicted are set to have their criminal records overturned. The government is introducing legislation to nullify and pardon convictions related to child prostitution in light of a grave miscarriage of justice. Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips emphasized the system’s failure in protecting young individuals who suffered horrific sexual exploitation.
These victims were unfairly prosecuted while the actual perpetrators, the adult abusers, evaded punishment, as stated by the Home Office. Consequently, individuals coerced and manipulated into criminal acts were burdened with permanent criminal histories.
Gabrielle Shaw, Chief Executive of the National Association of People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC), stressed the importance of not criminalizing abused children and expressed hope that the pardoning of these wrongful convictions would offer validation to those affected. She underlined that acknowledgment and belief in survivors’ stories are vital for a sense of justice to prevail.
The forthcoming legislative change will result in the expungement of criminal records linked to these offenses, affecting potentially hundreds of individuals. Minister Phillips reaffirmed the government’s commitment to rectifying past failures and providing support rather than stigmatizing victims of child sexual exploitation.
The initiative to disregard and pardon these convictions aligns with the recommendations made in a comprehensive report by Baroness Louise Casey. The government’s acceptance of all 12 proposed measures includes launching a national inquiry into the grooming gang scandal.
The new scheme will specifically target individuals convicted of on-street prostitution crimes committed while under 18, following the elimination of the concept of child prostitution from legislation in 2015. Once implemented, the scheme will automatically clear the records of victims and survivors without requiring them to submit requests.
The Home Office highlighted that these reforms aim to ensure that victims of heinous child sexual exploitation are not burdened by unjust convictions. Additionally, the Ministry of Justice announced stricter measures against strangulation or suffocation in pornography, with tech companies facing enforcement action if they fail to proactively detect and remove such harmful content.
Tech Secretary Liz Kendall condemned the dissemination of such material online, emphasizing the need to combat a culture of violence and abuse. She pledged to hold tech companies accountable for preventing the spread of harmful content to create a safer online environment for women and girls.