Abstract
In May 2012, nine men from the Rochdale area of Manchester were found guilty of sexually exploiting a number of underage girls. Media reporting on the trial focused on the fact that eight of the men were of Pakistani descent, while all the girls were white. Framing similar cases in Preston, Rotherham, Derby, Shropshire, Oxford, Telford and Middlesbrough as ethnically motivated, the media incited moral panic over South Asian grooming gangs preying on white girls. While these cases shed light on the broader problem of sexual exploitation in Britain, they also reveal continuing misconceptions that stereotype South Asian men as ‘natural’ perpetrators of these crimes due to culturally-specific notions of hegemonic masculinity. Examining newspaper coverage from 2012 to 2013, this article discusses the discourse of the British media’s portrayal of South Asian men as perpetrators of sexual violence against white victims, inadvertently construing ‘South Asian men’ as ‘folk devils’.
Highlights
Over the last four years, the United Kingdom (UK) has been beset by a moral panic concerning ‘South Asian men’ grooming white girls for sexual exploitation
The men involved were convicted of rape as well as conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with children, trafficking for sexual exploitation, sexual activity with a girl under sixteen, aiding and abetting rape, and sexual assault
Further grooming rings involving South Asian men and white under‐aged girls were simultaneously exposed in Derby, Shropshire, Oxford, Telford and Middlesbrough, while similar cases in Preston and Rotherham had already gone to trial
Summary
Over the last four years, the United Kingdom (UK) has been beset by a moral panic concerning ‘South Asian men’ grooming white girls for sexual exploitation. This moral panic derived from a number of well‐publicised cases, the most infamous of which took place in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Further grooming rings involving South Asian men and white under‐aged girls were simultaneously exposed in Derby, Shropshire, Oxford, Telford and Middlesbrough, while similar cases in Preston and Rotherham had already gone to trial. Based on an analysis of news coverage over a two year period, this article examines media portrayal of South Asian men as predators who groom and sexually exploit white children in the UK
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