Cameron Thomas

I thank my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) for moving the motion. At the heart of this issue are exploited children and predatory men. Sexual exploitation of children continues to occur across the country. It is not exclusive to a particular skin tone, an individual culture or religion, but leaders and those in authority must acknowledge and address patterns. Who are any of us to deny the testimonies of the victims, as were so heavily laid out by the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Rupert Lowe)? Those with responsibility must feel empowered to act in defence of women and girls, without fear of persecution or judgment or of prosecution under the Equality Act. It should not take a humanist to recognise that various interpretations of the Quran, the hadiths, the Torah and the biblical Old Testament continue to validate varying degrees of female subjugation. Malala Yousafzai was shot by religious fundamentalists in Pakistan for daring to advocate for girls’ education. Therefore, where exploitation has taken place by groups that entirely comprised men of Pakistani heritage, there can be no pretence that culture did not factor in their subjugation of those women and girls. I am proud that the UK leads much of the world in our elevation of women. I am equally proud of the enrichment that cultural diversity has brought to our own. But why pretend that integration is frictionless or that any two cultures are perfectly compatible? The rational among us would want integration to take place, so let us not take it for granted. Where there is incompatibility between cultures in this country, no inch should ever be given that would undermine the rights of women and girls.