News

A confidential report commissioned by the Metropolitan Police which contains claims of abuse carried out against African children trafficked into the UK has called for social services to record the number of faith groups operating in their areas, writes Amy Taylor.

The report, the result of a 10-month research project funded by the Met to raise awareness of child abuse in Black and Asian communities in Hackney and Newham, features unsubstantiated allegations from community members that boys unblemished by circumcision were being sacrificed in the UK by people practicing  witchcraft.

There were also claims that children were being sexually abused by men with HIV who believed that if they had sex with a child they would be cleansed.

The authors of the report, which was leaked to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, stressed that the allegations had not been investigated.

A Met Police spokesperson said the report, which consulted social workers, race relations experts and human rights lawyers, was being considered at the “highest level” prior to its publication at the end of the month.