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More than 370 girls may have been abused in Oxfordshire

An investigation into suspected serious sexual offences against a number of children and young people in Oxfordshire has found that 370 girls were abused by gangs over a 15 year period.

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Police and social services criticised for victim blaming

A review into the sexual abuse of children and young people in Oxford has found that police and social services failed to take reports of abuse seriously enough, and demonstrated through their language to the families and in their official records a clear lack of understanding of the abuse.

The review found that police described the girls as "getting themselves into trouble". Other examples of victim blaming cited by the report include:

She is a streetwise girl who is willful. She deliberately puts herself at risk as she goes off with older men that are strangers.

She is believed to be prostituting herself, to pay for drugs.

– Bullfinch Serious Case Review

Parents told the review their concerns were frequently not taken into account - and that they were caught between a difficult, determined child and police and social services who would not take their concerns about her sexual exploitation seriously. The parents told the view:

I keep emphasising, she is a minor.

The police said she didn't appear in danger, they said she was happy to be there, and refused to tell me where she was.

They threatened to kill me and behead my baby's daughter.

One manager said 'she's streetwise and loves it.'

– Family of abuse victims, to the Bullfinch Serious Case review

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