Child Grooming and Sexual Exploitation: Are South Asian Men the UK Media’s New Folk Devils?
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, Rotherha...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Queensland University of Technology
2015-07-01
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| Series: | International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/article/view/214 |
| _version_ | 1818859810178727936 |
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| author | Aisha K Gill Karen Harrison |
| author_facet | Aisha K Gill Karen Harrison |
| author_sort | Aisha K Gill |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | 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’. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-19T09:18:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bc79fa63bcf44972b1282c84672185ba |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2202-7998 2202-8005 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-19T09:18:06Z |
| publishDate | 2015-07-01 |
| publisher | Queensland University of Technology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy |
| spelling | doaj.art-bc79fa63bcf44972b1282c84672185ba2022-12-21T20:28:04ZengQueensland University of TechnologyInternational Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy2202-79982202-80052015-07-0142344910.5204/ijcjsd.v4i2.214174Child Grooming and Sexual Exploitation: Are South Asian Men the UK Media’s New Folk Devils?Aisha K Gill0Karen Harrison1University of RoehamptonUniversity of HullIn 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’.https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/article/view/214Folk devilsmasculinitymedia representationsmoral panicsexual exploitationSouth Asian men. |
| spellingShingle | Aisha K Gill Karen Harrison Child Grooming and Sexual Exploitation: Are South Asian Men the UK Media’s New Folk Devils? International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy Folk devils masculinity media representations moral panic sexual exploitation South Asian men. |
| title | Child Grooming and Sexual Exploitation: Are South Asian Men the UK Media’s New Folk Devils? |
| title_full | Child Grooming and Sexual Exploitation: Are South Asian Men the UK Media’s New Folk Devils? |
| title_fullStr | Child Grooming and Sexual Exploitation: Are South Asian Men the UK Media’s New Folk Devils? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Child Grooming and Sexual Exploitation: Are South Asian Men the UK Media’s New Folk Devils? |
| title_short | Child Grooming and Sexual Exploitation: Are South Asian Men the UK Media’s New Folk Devils? |
| title_sort | child grooming and sexual exploitation are south asian men the uk media s new folk devils |
| topic | Folk devils masculinity media representations moral panic sexual exploitation South Asian men. |
| url | https://www.crimejusticejournal.com/article/view/214 |
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