A courageous woman has broken her silence to reveal how she was systematically raped and abused by an Asian grooming gang while living in children's homes in Edinburgh, demanding urgent action to protect younger generations from similar exploitation.
Two Decades of Silence Broken
The 35-year-old survivor, identified as Sarah to protect her identity, suffered abuse from the age of 13 while residing in various care facilities across Scotland's capital. She only managed to escape her tormentors when she moved away at 18, having endured five years of horrific sexual exploitation.
Sarah becomes the third woman to speak out within the last month about abuse suffered at the hands of Scottish grooming gangs, yet First Minister John Swinney continues to reject calls for a national inquiry into the systematic exploitation of vulnerable young women.
"I was blamed, I was called a prostitute, and I was made to feel that what was happening to me was my fault," Sarah told the Mail on Sunday. "This was 20 years ago and I am sure that young women in the care system are still experiencing it today."
The Systematic Grooming Process
Sarah's ordeal began in 2004 when she moved to Drylaw children's home at 13. Her introduction to the grooming network started innocently enough at a local takeaway run by an older Asian man, where she and other girls from the home would receive free food and cigarettes.
The situation escalated when she transferred to Northfield home, where sexual exploitation became routine. "We literally ran out of the home into waiting cars, and were driven to houses," she recalled. "Sometimes they were nice houses, big houses, other times it was horrible flats. Sometimes there were one or two guys in there, others eight or nine."
The pattern remained consistent: young girls would be picked up, provided with vodka and cigarettes, then transported to various locations including properties near Asda at Fort Kinnaird and flats in The Calders area of Edinburgh.
Documented Failures in Protection
Shockingly, Sarah's case files confirm that social workers were aware of her associations with adult Asian men and the exchange of alcohol, drugs and cigarettes for sex. One note from when she was 14 states: "Left with peers in red Nissan Sunny....2x Males. Info passed to police."
Another incident when she was 15 recorded that she "returned to the unit under the influence of alcohol" with a large bruise on her arm, yet she refused to discuss how it happened.
Rather than recognising her as a victim, the system appeared to blame Sarah. Case notes show she was "reminded about practicing safe sex" after disclosing unprotected sex with an "Asian boy," while social workers expressed concern that interviewing her would "give her heightened awareness of the potential risks she has been putting herself at."
In 2007, her files explicitly state: "[Sarah] stated she went to a flat...she drank vodka with two of her male friends who were both Asian...The second male forced her to have sex with him."
Growing Chorus of Survivor Voices
Sarah's testimony follows similar accounts from other survivors. Last week, Fiona Goddard from Bradford revealed how she was trafficked to Scotland by Asian men, transported by taxi from Northern England while carrying class A drugs. She was plied with alcohol and drugs before being raped in houses across Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Another young woman using the pseudonym Taylor has written directly to the First Minister detailing her abuse by grooming gangs in Glasgow while living in care.
Sarah emphasises that her call for action isn't about racism but about protecting children. "Everyone is so scared to approach the subject because they could be deemed racist or prejudice," she said. "I am not – I have male friends now who are Asian, I do not think all Asian men are to blame at all. But this is happening."
She makes a powerful distinction about the victims: "You've got young girls who aren't promiscuous, that aren't prostitutes - children cannot be prostitutes, no matter how much you spin it."
Sarah concludes with an urgent plea to authorities: "Why are people who are in charge okay with young girls being in the company of older Asian men, and nothing is done. There needs to be a sense of urgency."
