Global worries about sexual violence have focused on another Asian community, not Indian, albeit one that is based in the UK

Concern that a disproportionate number of sex attacks in the UK have been carried out by British Pakistanis has prompted two British MPs, one Conservative and one Labour, to support Children's Minister Edward Timpson's call for the UK Pakistani community to step up efforts to stamp out paedophilia.

Last January two British Pakistanis, Abid Mohammed Saddique, 27, and Mohammed Romaan Liaqat, 28, were convicted by Nottingham Crown Court after being charged as ringleaders of a Derby gang that groomed girls as young as 12 for sex.

Former Labour Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Andrew Stephenson, Conservative MP for Pendle, Lancashire, subsequently took up the issue, agreeing more needs to be done. The two MPs have constituencies close to those parts of Lancashire where paedophile gangs are known to have been operating.

Mr Straw responded to Timpson's call, saying, 'Basically, he is right. Some parts of the Pakistani community have been in wilful denial about this. In East Lancashire, especially Blackburn with Darwen, we have been more on top of this. I hope things are changing.'

This is the second occasion Mr Straw has seen fit to comment on the issue. Last January he told a London television programme, 'These young men are in a Western society. In any event, they act like any other young men: they're fizzing and popping with testosterone, they want some outlet for that. But Pakistani-heritage girls are off-limits and they are expected to marry a girl from Pakistan, typically. So they seek other avenues and they see these young women, white girls who are vulnerable, some of them in care... who they think are easy meat.'

For his part, Mr Stephenson commented, 'The minister (Edward Timpson) is right. There have been horrific cases in East Lancashire and a lot of effort has been spent talking to imams and teachers. The Pakistani community locally needs to be more ruthless about rooting this out.'

Earlier this year, Timpson testified before a House of Commons inquiry into street grooming, explaining that in the past there had not been 'robust investigations' into such offences because of 'cultural sensitivities or political correctness'.

He told the Home Affairs Select Committee: 'We've seen a pattern develop within a minority of some Pakistani communities where there have been particular traits of activity that have continued for far too long without being detected, properly investigated and followed through with a prosecution.'

The minister's comments came nearly a year after the well documented cases of eight British Pakistanis and one Afghan asylum seeker who were charged with the rape and sex trafficking of underage white teenage girls. During their investigation, police identified 47 girls as victims of child sexual exploitation.

The men who were charged and convicted in some of the abuse cases were described as married and well respected, including a religious studies teacher, two taxi drivers and two restaurant workers. They were all based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester and are said to have plied their victims with drinks, money and drugs before 'passing them around'.

During their trial, gang members claimed the girls were happy to have sex and seemed indifferent to how many of the girls were from deprived and dysfunctional backgrounds. Among the horrifying stories recorded by police was that of the 15-year-old girl who was raped by 20 men and another girl who was so drunk that she vomited over the side of the bed while she was raped by two men.

Ring leader of the rapists, 59-year-old Shabir Ahmed, called Judge Gerard Clifton a 'racist bastard', shouting out in court, 'Where are the white people, you have only got my kind here.'

The story of the Rochdale gang in particular has aroused huge political and social sensitivity because of concern that far right groups in the UK would use the issue to demonise British Pakistanis and create a climate of hate against all Muslims. They include the British National Party, which issued a leaflet saying, 'Our children are not halal meat.'

Last year one British minister of Pakistani origin, Baroness Warsi, condemned what she described as the 'small minority' of Pakistani men who view white girls as fair game for sexual abuse.

Warsi told the British media, 'There is a small minority of Pakistani men who believe that white girls are fair game. And we have to be prepared to say that. You can only start solving a problem if you acknowledge it first.

'The small minority who see women as second-class citizens, and white women probably as third-class citizens, are to be spoken out against.'

Community leaders from the Pakistani community have also spoken about the issue. One of them, Blackburn with Darwen councillor Mohammed Khan said: 'This affects all communities. I think awareness is rising since the Rochdale case and people are more likely to report possible child sex abuse.'

Pendle Labour group councillor Mohammed Iqbal said, 'It is unfair to single out the Pakistani community. People in the community are now more aware of the tell-tale signs of child abuse so can do more about it.'

Another community leader, Mohammed Shafiq of the Ramadhan Foundation, was quoted as saying, 'There is a significant problem for the British Pakistani community, there is an over-representation amongst recent convictions in the crime of on-street grooming, there should be no silence in addressing the issue of race as this is central to the actions of these criminals.

'They think that white teenage girls are worthless and can be abused without a second thought; it is this sort of behaviour that is bringing shame on our community.

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