Asian Birmingham Girl was Raped by 30 Men including Father and Son

A father and his schoolboy son were among a group of men who raped a teenage girl in an ordeal which lasted six hours.

The victim was abused at a property in Birmingham by 30 Asian men, who arrived in groups. The youngest attacker was wearing his school uniform when he raped the Asian girl.

The incident was exposed by the Muslim Women's Network UK to illustrate how vulnerable Asian girls, as well as white girls, are victims of paedophile gangs.

Coverage of Asian sex rings has generally focused on their targeting of white girls, such as the cases in Oxford and Rochdale. But Asian girls are also being targeted by paedophiles, the new report warns.

Crimes are often covered up because of fears the victim's family would be shamed if the truth were revealed.

The girl's ordeal came to light during interviews with 35 abuse victims by MWNUK across Britain, the findings of which challenged ideas about the type of victims.

Challenging the view about sex gang victims, Shaista Gohir MBE said: "The biggest barrier that we need to address is the shame and honour card. They would rather protect the honour of the family and community than report an offender and protect other girls, as well as get the victim the counselling and help they need.

"People tell me they have heard about Rochdale and Oxford and see it as something which happens elsewhere to other people, but it is happening in Birmingham, it's happening everywhere."

Gohir said victims were more likely to be targeted by attackers from the same ethnic background as them. Blackmailing victims by claiming it would "shame" the victim's family to reveal abuse was a common tactic, she claimed.

The findings by MWNUK were presented to the Birmingham City Council child sexual exploitation inquiry. Councillor Waseem Zaffer said: "I have seen this presentation three times and each time I get angrier and angrier. There are a number of issues in the south Asian community which are swept under the carpet and this is one of them.

Zaffer's fellow councillor Anita Ward added: "When we are dealing with child sexual exploitation we need to recognise that it is not only Asian men grooming white girls. The victims do not come from any one particular culture or community, and neither do the perpetrators."