Shadow minister resigns over CSE race comments

In an article for The Sun newspaper published on 10 August, Champion argued that the role of the ethnicity of abusers involved in child sexual exploitation gangs is being ignored due to political correctness.

"We must accept that for gang-related child sexual exploitation, the convictions have largely been against British-Pakistani men," she wrote, adding that "the common denominator is their ethnic heritage".

The article provoked criticism, including from fellow Labour MP Naz Shah who called it "irresponsible". However, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has defended Champion, saying Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was wrong to sack her.

Corbyn wrong to sack Sarah Champion. We need an honest open debate on child sexual exploitation, including racial motivation

— Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) August 17, 2017

Announcing her resignation, Champion apologised for her "extremely poor choice of words" and said staying on would "distract from the crucial issues around child protection which I have campaigned on my entire political career".

Champion has been a leading campaigner in parliament against child sexual exploitation in recent years. In 2014 an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, the constituency Champion represents as an MP, estimated that upwards of 1,400 children were exploited in the town between 1997 to 2013.

That report found that by far the majority of perpetrators were described as "Asian" by victims. It added that staff were nervous about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being thought racist. Others said they received clear direction from their managers not to do so.

In the wake of that scandal Champion launched Dare2Care, a campaign to encourage debate about how to stop child abuse.

In a April 2016 interview with CYP Now, Champion said she "would rather be wrong and have to apologise for asking a probing question than let a child be abused".

In response to the controversy over the article, Javed Khan, chief executive of the children's charity Barnardo's, said: "There is no denying that British-Asian men have been found guilty of grooming and sexually exploiting vulnerable children, and Pakistani men are heavily represented in some of the statistics.

"It is disgraceful, and totally at odds with all of the social, cultural and religious values I was raised with as a British-Pakistani Muslim."

"The prevalence of child sexual exploitation should be addressed head on," he continued. "While this is abhorrent to the vast majority of British Pakistanis, I would ask all communities to look closely at what more they could do to protect vulnerable children.

"We know from speaking to the young people we support that the shocking truth is men and women from all cultural groups are sexually exploiting children of different backgrounds in their thousands.

"We cannot ignore the complexity of this crime as this risks letting abusers slip through the net, and leaving victims without help or hope. It is crucial that police forces and other agencies across the UK throw their net wide to bring abusers to justice, regardless of race, religion or background."