Mr Justice Walker says “the victims’ fathers were concerned about the future marriage prospects for their daughters” (Abused Asian children suffer more, court of appeal rules, 18 September). Where do we even start with this statement? Is this the only or most typical response of the male parents about their female children? Would an abuser of a child of a feminist mother, for instance, have a lesser sentence for a similar crime because this mother would not consider marriageability as a priority for her daughter and so this child is less damaged? Does this mindset not, in effect, categorise Asian children as more “tarnishable” than girls of other backgrounds?
I despair, first that so many (mostly) men think it is OK to terrorise children; and that this terrorising is still framed by the judiciary in medieval, patriarchal ways that will confirm to all the racists in Rotherham, for instance, that “our” girls are worth nothing compared with “their” girls. Let the justice process place the heaviest sentence possible on all child rapists. Let us find the funds to try to heal these poor kids and their families and for the inevitable mental health services that will be needed in the future. Please don’t compound the atrocities of abuse with dark age views of women and girls. Clearly the effects of abuse are different depending on many, many factors ... but justice, community cohesion and above all the dignity of girls and women of all ethnicities depend on us all being of equal under the law.
Caroline Pinder
Todmorden, West Yorkshire
