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Survivor urges Scotland to speed grooming-gang inquiry
Holly Alex, who was abused as a teenager in care, said the Scottish government has not yet delivered the public inquiry it pledged in February, BBC Scotland reported.
- New headline Was: “Scottish government needs to act faster on grooming gang inquiry, says survivor”
- Our desk filed its story
- New headline Was: “Government needs to act faster on grooming gang inquiry, says survivor”
A woman who says she was exploited by groups of men while in care as a teenager has called on the Scottish government to move faster on a public inquiry it announced in February, BBC Scotland reported1.
Holly Alex, 36, entered care at 14 and lived in five children's homes in Edinburgh between 14 and 17, according to the report1. She said about 25 to 50 men were involved in her abuse in flats in Edinburgh and Livingston1.
BBC Scotland said it had seen her social care records, which noted concerns she was being "groomed" for sex by adult men and that social workers and police knew of the risks1. The records also described her going missing and returning intoxicated with unexplained money, while staff labeled her as promiscuous, the report said1.
Alex said the abuse began as gifts of money, drink and food and later included violence if she tried to leave1. "If you say you'll do something at pace, do it at pace," she said of ministers1.
Scotland ordered a statutory inquiry into group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation in February after political pressure, with then Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth promising a thorough investigation1. Terms of reference still must be agreed before evidence can be heard1.
Education Secretary Màiri McAllan said sexual abuse was abhorrent, safeguarding children was the government's priority, and the inquiry, to be chaired by Prof. Alexis Jay with full investigatory powers, was central to that work1.
A national review of group-based child sexual abuse in Scotland, published in September and also overseen by Jay, found no reliable national picture of the scale of the offending because of inconsistent data and no agreed definition, the BBC said1. Ministers are expected to update Holyrood on Thursday1.
Alex said some survivors feared being left out of the inquiry if their abusers did not match a particular ethnic profile, and she argued that a grooming gang is two or more perpetrators regardless of race1. She has been invited to a government Truth Project pilot that runs alongside the inquiry1.
Police Scotland said it was made aware of some reports from that period, that an investigation is ongoing, and that it is committed to tackling child sexual exploitation1. City of Edinburgh Council repeated an apology to Alex, citing changes including the closure of secure residential accommodation in the city1. A carer, Gordon Collins, was sentenced in 2016 to 10 years after Alex's evidence, the BBC reported1.