The scale of the scandal is staggering. Official figures from the Home Office and independent inquiries (Rotherham, Rochdale, Telford, Oldham, Newcastle, Rotherham again) estimate at least 19,000 known victims between 1997 and 2017, with many experts believing the true number is far higher. Grooming gangs, predominantly made up of men of Pakistani heritage in the most high-profile cases, targeted girls as young as 11, using drugs, alcohol, threats, and violence to coerce them into sexual exploitation. Yet time and again, authorities failed to act decisively. Police dismissed victims as “prostitutes” or “making lifestyle choices”; social services feared being labelled racist; council officials worried about “community tensions.” The result: a systemic refusal to connect the dots, even when patterns were glaring.

Lowe’s inquiry, funded through public donations and his own resources, is not constrained by the same political sensitivities. “We have the evidence,” he said in his opening remarks. “We have witness statements, leaked documents, whistleblower accounts, and survivor testimony that was ignored or disbelieved. This inquiry will ask the questions that should have been asked 20 years ago: Who knew? Who covered it up? And why were the warnings ignored?” Early sessions have already heard from former police officers who claim they were told to “back off” certain investigations to avoid “racial tensions,” and from survivors who say they were threatened or disbelieved when they first came forward.