Recently, Channel 4 in the UK released a documentary, Groomed – a national scandal, where relatives of those convicted in “grooming gangs” are exposed for actively campaigning to discredit the victims and trying to provide “redress” for those convicted, causing some uproar in the UK. The program featured chat logs where the relatives discuss the victims in extremely derogatory (sexual) terms, and one can almost understand how this could have happened in the first place when reading what the relatives wanted to do to the victims – the irony…
The open wound of the “grooming scandals” in the UK, where efforts were made for a long time to smooth things over, has been covered sufficiently by the BBC with many reports for a comprehensive view. The link below provides a good summary of the events from Sky.
Consider that it is 12-13-year-old girls who have been gang-raped hundreds of times, tortured, prostituted, forced into drug addiction, and held captive, so the crimes are absolutely extreme on the scale. A conservative estimate is 4000 victims, but since just the town of Telford had 1000-1500, there is likely a significant number of unreported cases.
With a bit of luck, this might be resolved now, and above all, accountability should be demanded, which the UK still has – compensation has previously been blocked by various authorities, but in this case, millions of pounds per victim should actually be paid.
As a parent of girls, I must admit that this would be an absolute nightmare if one ended up in this situation as a parent – imagine your child being torn apart in front of you, and the authorities do everything NOT to stop it, allowing it to continue without your ability to intervene.
I believe that the reluctance had a lot to do with the political climate in the country at the time – if one tried to address a grooming gang and its ethnicity around the turn of the millennium, it was one’s last moments before one’s career died.
The reporter who is widely recognized as the person who brought the issue to light faced resistance initially, but had a boss who chose the truth – and if his boss had been a coward, it would never have been exposed at that time.
The UK is quite complex – you all remember the absolutely ENORMOUS scandal in the Catholic Church, which involved the priests’ relationships with minors that the Vatican tried to cover up for as long as possible.
But then came the orphanage scandal in Ireland and the UK, which was no joke – children in orphanages were sexually tortured and murdered by the staff.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/may/20/irish-catholic-schools-child-abuse-claims
We lived in the UK from 2016 to 2019, and our son was young, so we were required to have visits from home visitors. We avoided it until we moved, but it is high risk – the municipality sends a person to evaluate the parents, and if they find serious irregularities, the children can be taken into custody. Of course, they don’t say anything while they are there, but they write a report, and one day the police knock on the door and take the children.
The reason is adoption, and social services can receive significant under-the-table payments for facilitating the adoption of children taken into custody.
The weakness in the system is that the report from home visitors is almost 100% of the evidence and enjoys the highest trust – social services naturally need approval from the court, but they rely solely on the report and take everything as truth.
If, as a parent, you try to challenge the removal that was done under the pretext of being urgent, you have the authorities against you, who in this case do not want their business exposed at all and do their best to undermine you.
The funny (or not so funny…) thing is that they prefer migrant families with a weak position in the country, and when we started to investigate after becoming suspicious, we found Facebook groups of Portuguese parents who had joined forces to pursue legal action to try to get their children back and be able to move back to Portugal.
Honestly – if a social worker shows up at your home on a Saturday morning at 8 o’clock, with two small children running around, and you and your partner have just argued about what to do during the day, how many criticisms do you think you would receive?
I usually value personal integrity highly and can get quite upset about intrusions into it. If I had started to be questioned by a home visitor in my own home, the likelihood is high that I would have reacted defensively – the report would probably state that as a father, I was aggressive and perceived as very threatening, and then it would be extrapolated to the safety of the children or something 😀
A common thread in all three incidents above is that the victims and their parents have consistently been hindered by the justice system and social authorities, and both the victims and their parents have had their lives taken away from them – they are like empty shells after this if they haven’t taken their own lives.
Regarding the Catholic orphanages, millions of children went through these institutions in the end 😶
In the case of grooming gangs, 4000 is considered a conservative figure. Now that Musk has intervened in the debate, if one mentions 250,000, there are accusations of listening to him, but there are certainly many cases, one can probably assert with certainty. The figure of 4000 is from the Conservative task force, which over 12 months arrested 550 perpetrators and rescued 4000 children, so it is grossly misleading.
Child removals are also on an industrial scale in the UK – just the Portuguese group of devastated parents was quite large, and it is estimated that around 30,000 children are taken into custody annually in the UK.
Note that only 300 adoptions annually involve parents in the UK with children from abroad, but 3000 adoptions annually are from children taken into custody, so over 10% are adopted from that group.
In Sweden, out of 3500 cases, it is 25-50, so only 1.5% at most for comparison.
And the central issue – all those in the dock manage to stall endlessly and then receive ridiculously low sentences, except for some scapegoat who gets caught.
I would argue that all three examples are symptoms of an underlying problem where there is a complete inability to protect minors in the UK as promised, and where the authorities in many cases are enablers if not perpetrators.
Anyway, when we lived there, we chose to be very cautious because we felt that something was not right, there were undercurrents in society that one could sense but not see.
Sexual abuse of children is also increasing in Sweden.
It also seems that around 35% of the abuses occur in the home, and considering how actively the 65% that occur outside the home have been tried to be concealed, my conclusion is that as far as possible, children should NOT be taken from their families – which I believe is Sweden’s current policy?
You can provide support, yes, but taking children into custody doesn’t seem to be a good idea. Sweden takes custody of 3,500 children annually, with 18,000 in foster care. So, 0.0035% of the population is taken into custody annually, compared to the UK’s 0.0044% – slightly over 30% more in the UK.
Then you have all the missing children – at some point there were about 700 in Sweden, 70,000 in the UK, and 700,000 in the USA.
In Germany, 100,000 children disappear every year, and in Europe, it’s 250,000 – you can quickly see that the number for Europe is likely underestimated, as the UK should be closer to 130,000, and it’s not very likely that Germany and the UK account for all missing children.
Perhaps this shows that we have some control in Sweden, and I think that as a constantly moving family, we always have to deal with schools and municipalities when we move out – one needs to be on guard.
Reflect on these numbers and then think a bit about how the children in orphanages and the vulnerable children in the UK are doing – one can actually wonder how those 130,000 who go missing in the UK each year are faring.
It feels like we have a bigger problem than we want to admit here in general, even though not all missing individuals remain missing, of course – those who have been raped hundreds of times by grooming gangs did come back home, for example.
When, finally, after a journalist refused to give up, a larger hidden problem area is exposed, the number of vulnerable individuals always skyrockets, and the crimes are utterly extreme.
In Sweden, we have our very own “grooming scandal” where home care staff subjected users to sexual abuse for a long time, and municipality after municipality was/is not the least bit interested in investigating the extent of the problem – and in several cases, caregivers’ misconduct (sexual abuse) was known without the municipalities taking action.
In Uppsala, apparently the entire elderly care committee resigned after the scandal, which was welcome even though a certain party refused for a long time, you can probably guess which one.
The manager was under investigation for a crime but got the job just before everything exploded – unclear if they resigned?
Södertälje also wanted to check the criminal records of all employees in home care and childcare to protect the users, but the Parliamentary Ombudsman put a stop to it – deemed a discriminatory measure.
How is that discriminatory you might quickly think – if no crime has been committed, nothing happens, but if one is high-risk for the elderly, they are not allowed to continue working. Whose integrity is more important, perhaps the Parliamentary Ombudsman should consider.
Now that we have reached this point, some have already prepared a comment that “these are isolated incidents and not a sign of a larger problem in Sweden,” so I post below –
Umeå.
Vänersborg
Malmö
https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/skane/man-doms-for-sexbrott-inom-hemtjansten-i-malmo
Vimmerby
https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/smaland/forhandlingarna-avslutade-i-uppmarksammade-valdtacktsmalet
And more
https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/blekinge/lista-overgrepp-som-anmaldes-inom-hemtjansten-forra-aret
Ronneby
Kiruna
https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/blekinge/lista-overgrepp-som-anmaldes-inom-hemtjansten-forra-aret
Luleå
If you now consider the case of Vera in Uppsala, who repeatedly called the responsible authorities in the municipality and informed them of what had happened, but they ignored her and continued to send the man there – how large do you think the unreported cases are 😶
The municipality naturally did its best to prevent the problem from becoming widely known in the media, but once it was exposed, they took action – but it took a persistent journalist who had the time, energy, determination, and could work on this during paid working hours.
https://www.fgj.se/guldspaden/bidrag/valdtakterna-i-hemtjansten-larmen-som-forsvann
UNT seems to have tackled this larger problem and is writing about it.
Our children and elderly are the most vulnerable people we have in society, and it’s hard to say anything other than that we don’t succeed completely, but we have done better than the UK.
The more I read about this, the more convinced I become that the role of the family must be strengthened and supported. Even in the sense that parents should have more time for their children and parents themselves.
If I work and have no time for my children and parents, society pays someone else to do that job. Wouldn’t it be better if I had that time without being financially penalized during the periods in life when it’s needed – with young children and very old parents?
Yes, there are children and elderly without families, but many countries seem to have an overreliance on the state taking care of their own rather than through families.
In cases where an issue has gained attention, it’s often journalists with strong support behind them who can, during paid working hours, do thorough groundwork and then get it published on a major platform that is picked up by other media. A scoop on johanno1.se stays on johanno1.se – it won’t earn any awards.
The investigative reporters are hindered, and in cases where their employers deem the subject too sensitive, nothing happens.
Reasonable assumption that there is a large unreported number.
All the very elderly who are demented?
Reasonable to assume there is a large unreported number.
The authorities compiling the statistics only go by confirmed cases.
Reasonable to assume there is a large unreported number.
What is interesting in this context is that I have only highlighted misconduct in things that are supposed to function.
In Sweden, 26,000 sexual offenses are committed per year, and children are three times more likely than adults to be victims. Considering all the above pointing to an unreported number – it’s a reasonable assumption that there is an unreported number here too?
A group I could imagine has an unreported number is sexual offenses in close relationships in whatever constellation it may be where it can go on for many years before the victim leaves.
Many of the convictions for child rape are also hundreds of rapes over a couple of years before it’s exposed, but it’s just a tick in the statistics, I guess.
When I lived in Angola, I wanted to save money, so I settled in the middle of the ghetto (museque) without telling my employer so I could save most of my monthly allowance.
I hadn’t completely lost it, so I ended up in a house in an area where old war veterans lived, armed of course, and the area probably had lower crime rates than the Vatican. No criminal with an ounce of survival instinct set foot in that area.
But I learned a lot, and when the social safety net was non-existent, the community reshaped itself to take on that role.
Yes, they would throw gasoline and tires on murderers, pedophiles, burglars (because they often killed), and set them on fire. Crime was low, so children were relatively safe, and they looked after the elderly in the family.
It is directly embarrassing that a poverty-stricken residential area in Angola populated by old war veterans takes better care of their oldest seniors and children completely free of charge than we do when we pay a lot for it, but maybe that’s the problem. They solve it within the family and the community, and we try to do it at a national level with a great deal of trust and no background checks?
Can’t we as taxpayers demand that this works?
By what right do authorities and politicians always try to cover up as soon as it gets embarrassing – because that is consistent in all the examples I have mentioned. Instead of directly going after the perpetrators with a pitchfork, the victims and their parents are suspected, or everything is dragged out in a bureaucratic long process ad absurdum hoping it will disappear.
In the UK, they have even gone so far as authorities and the justice system actively opposing compensation to the victims after ten years, which I find strange. Then one really goes to the extreme to not do the right thing.
Labour also initially torpedoed a national inquiry that would have the power for officials to testify under oath, to instead become local regional investigations which apparently did not have the power to compel officials to testify under oath – making it much more difficult, right?
But now they have also delayed the diluted proposal for so long that the opposition now saw their chance to start hammering on them.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/apr/10/yvette-cooper-grooming-gang-inquiries-misinformation
So this is 2025 and already in 2011 the first alarms came, it is a national trauma and the government is doing its best 14 years later to not fully investigate this – when the overarching accusation is that authorities and the justice system have tried to cover it up and avoid addressing this for all these years.
Which is a massive betrayal to all the thousands of victims, one must say.
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This kind of thing is more difficult to read than the war in Ukraine, as this somehow feels closer mentally.
Unfortunately, I still feel more powerless in the fight against national authorities than my ability to help a foreign power against an invading army.
Sad reading on a Sunday morning, but probably useful to bring to light.
I decided to post alternative posts on weekends and people tend not to want to hear about this kind of stuff, but when the control functions completely fail and our most vulnerable have a nightmare existence, I think that’s something that should be discussed.
There are horrific films from nursing homes too, but it’s almost too much to start writing about it here as well 😀
The family’s protective role is extremely important, always my conclusion – when it works.
Sweden is also a bit funny because we should sympathize with the vulnerable in less functioning countries but discussing our own problems is not popular at all because then those responsible and politicians suddenly look bad instead of scoring a lot of points.
I agree with you.
It’s about the view on civil society and the state. Where the emphasis should lie. Europe has had strong labor movements during the 20th century and they have wanted a strong state with strong authorities. This has been followed by a norm criticism where older functioning approaches have been questioned by the media and academia. It has come at a cost.
It has definitely had a cost, and then there is the other side of the coin – dysfunctional families.
But when both are supposed to work and don’t have time, and then it doesn’t work with children and the elderly (in some cases…), maybe one should reconsider, a bit?
Local community, I think, is quite good. When I was a child, my family took care of some other children in the local community whose parents were somewhat inappropriate. There were a lot of sleepovers and extra large snacks after school. At least it could give them a little picture of what a functioning family is like. Otherwise, there is a risk that the pattern will be passed on to the next generation.
Thank you for today’s post!
Incredibly gloomy reading but an important subject that is talked about far too little.
When it comes to missing children, the figure of 700 per year seems excessive, but it doesn’t matter, even 70 or 7 is too many. The lack of attention it receives is because in most cases it concerns the most vulnerable in our society, unaccompanied refugee children who no one misses when they disappear.
Regarding the sexual exploitation of elderly people in care, it seems to be isolated, but far too many, incidents and there is a failure in controlling the people employed and when complaints arise, they sweep it under the rug to avoid criticism (possibly also because in some cases they simply do not believe the reports).
When it comes to young people taken into care in SIS homes, etc., the risk is probably greater that the exploitation is actually being systematized in a completely different way.
Fortunately, I believe that the situation in Sweden is significantly better than in the UK, but considering that SIS and HVB homes, assistance companies, etc. have become increasingly infiltrated by gang criminals, we risk going down the same path.
We must stop being so gullible, more background checks are needed and we must listen to those who report crimes, but above all, more resources are needed for the police, etc., to stop organized crime.
We are not the worst ✊✊
Well – I think I’ll look into the issue of not being allowed to do background checks more, I’m going to delve into this a bit now 😀
In addition to the tragedy itself, which is a huge tragedy, Musk and company are using this to further their agenda.
So we can probably conclude that since a free and open society does not want to delve into this, other forces with a different agenda will eventually do so.
Here in Sweden, we have a similar situation but regarding animal welfare.
Well, political points must always be scored…
What surprises me a little is the consistent resistance to addressing it – as a person, I could NEVER accept that an 80-year-old woman continued to be subjected to sexual abuse just to avoid criticism – never.
Then maybe there’s money involved too – bribed politicians?
A small addition regarding the case of Vera in Uppsala. Uppsala residents, led by Maria Mattsson Mähl, organized a demonstration to show their support for Elsa. The politicians were not entirely pleased. From UNT.
“Firstly, politicians from several parties in the elderly care committee are said to have questioned the location and time of the demonstration. Instead of the City Hall on a Saturday, the organizers have been urged to hold the demonstration on a weekday afternoon at a different location.”
Then there are obviously politicians who have no shame:
“Secondly, high-ranking Social Democratic politicians in Uppsala have contacted Maria Mattsson Mähl urging her to change the focus of the demonstration, so that instead of targeting politicians and officials, it should address the ‘gender power structure that is a basis for men’s violence against women’.”
https://www.unt.se/nyheter/uppsala/artikel/manifestation-for-elsa-far-mothugg-finns-en-annan-bild/r0qm1xkj
Yes, I saw it – it is consistent in all these huge scandals that politicians ALWAYS try to cover up.
Or twist it for political gain…
If we compare what you have written above with what has happened to the three siblings who were supposed to be moved to a new home, but were stopped when irregularities were found. The receiving home had ties to gang crime.
If the devil’s advocate then shows up, moving foster children to the “right” home is an economic advantage for the criminals – at the expense of the children. This needs to be further investigated by investigative journalists!
The same goes for “elderly care” where it is obviously heading in the same direction. The companies responsible for the care seem to be acting in a similar way, which leads one to suspect that the same criminals are running “businesses” there as well. In this case, both care recipients and care staff are at risk. A deeper investigation here should yield results.
Hey, saw the comment on Substack 😀
If now 60% of the assistance companies were run by criminals (or whatever the figure was), do we think that HVB homes, foster homes, elderly care are completely protected?
Bribes are a big part of this – the facilitators in the municipality simply give the contracts to those who pay bribes
Have another one to write about with the Employment Service’s contributions for jobs that I experienced in the family myself.
I think it will be a series of posts on weekends when I have time 😀
Got a few responses which is fun and one must conclude that the subject is a bit difficult to read 😀
What does it say when one doesn’t even want to read about it – then the abuses will just continue?
Good, important article. Unfortunately, I think many dismiss the whole scandal as a conspiracy because of Musk.
Another example of how society (this time in the USA) has failed to protect individuals from abuse and yet allows someone who protected those who committed the abuses to be elected as pope???
“Worried voices are raised when a new pope is elected. Pope Leo XIV is already accused of having protected individuals who are said to have committed abuses within the church.
During his time as the highest leader in the Catholic diocese of Chicago, he provided sanctuary in church properties to a pastor who had abused children, something that The Pillar previously reported on.
He is also accused of having swept three abuse scandals against Peruvian women within the church under the rug, reports Newsweek.”
https://omni.se/kritiken-hojs-mot-paven-forsvarade-overgrepp/a/25xggB
Not directly related to just old and young but here they have really failed in their ability to protect the residents. Judging the risk of relapse as high, it is incomprehensible that they still release him.
As I have written before, there is not much indicating that harsher penalties lead to reduced crime, but here it is about protecting others in society and then I am definitely in favor of longer sentences.
“A 31-year-old sex offender is charged with six new rapes in Stockholm and Halmstad, writes GP. The 31-year-old has previously been convicted of 25 sexual offenses against women and children. In the autumn of 2022, he was conditionally released, despite the assessed high risk of relapse.
– The legal system must immediately take stricter measures to prevent relapse, especially when it comes to sexual offenses.
The man denies the crime.”
Here is a case where inmates have failed to be protected from sexual harassment in a psychiatric ward.
“A 45-year-old caregiver is sentenced to eight months in prison for four cases of serious sexual harassment at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, as reported by Göteborgs-Posten.
The crimes are said to have taken place in the hospital’s psychiatric ward in the spring of 2023. According to the court, the caregiver was aware of the victims’ particularly vulnerable position as patients.
– I had a lot of sedative medication in my body and couldn’t say no, said one of the vulnerable women during the trial.”
https://omni.se/vardare-doms-for-sexbrott-pa-psykiatrisk-klinik/a/PpQJ7R
So he was able to continue working even though he was fired?
“The man was dismissed after the first police report, but is said to have had a temporary employment in healthcare during the investigation. He is also ordered to pay damages totaling 122,400 kronor.”