Just A Child: Britain's Biggest Child Abuse Scandal Exposed

This account of a childhood in Rotherham, England, is both raw and admirable. It is also very clever. I tried to expunge the newspaper accounts of child abuse cases I had seen while reading it, and found myself wondering when the story would reveal itself. Yes, it is written in an authentic South Yorkshire vernacular, yes it is a story of childish precocity and wilfulness, underage sex, neglect by family, friends, schools, the police, and almost everyone who is involved in social services. Sammy Woodhouse was, it has to be said, a real handful, and nothing anyone said to her seemed to dissuade her from getting what she wanted. But then, three-quarters of the way through the book, I suddenly realised the reader is, in a sense, as 'duped' as Sammy was. Everything in those earlier chapters is within the context of her skilful grooming by the ghastly "Ash" and his family. She was trapped by her childish emotions, the fact that she grew up too soon, and the dreadful consequences of her existence. This is not a clichéd account. Sammy was not 'in care' - on the whole, her family were kind and there for her. She was not 'handed around' dozens of paedophiles - "Ash" seemed to keep her very much for himself. But it is a harrowing and startling story which should be read by anyone with an opinion, or even a view, on Child Sexual Exploitation. What does come out of it is Sammy Woodhouse's concern, intelligence, courage, forgiveness, and determination to devote her life to the exposure of this veritable 'crime against humanity'. A remarkable achievement. One is left (and I read it in three days, having a cannot-put-it-down experience) hoping she will have the happiest of lives from now on. Many, in the same situation as Sammy, will have reason to thank her for the positive outcome of her revelations. Roderick Craig Low - Author

I’m not a reader, but wanted to try and get me of social media, I looked this book up and thought I would give it a try. Fantastic read, had me gripped from the start, which is unusual for me, I normally get bored, I would recommend absolutely recommend this book, people need to be more aware of what’s going on. Sammy your such a stronge young lady, I really hope your future years are happier times.

Great book

Credit to Sammy and her strength to tell her story ... Shame on those who denied and enabled her and other youngsters treatment too continue..... A truly inspirational read of a young lady who has been put through the ringer and emerged a proud you mother and a voice for CSE ....

A powerful story of a lady who holds so much courage & strength who never gave up and fought for justice to the end🤍 Would highly reccomend this book!

This is such an important book. Each story of abuse and grooming is the same, and each is different. Similar patterns of evil and manipulation, but the details always vary, because these are real people who are being targeted. Some of the issues which leapt to the forefront for me with Sammy's story are how her abuser, 'Mad Ash' Hussain, managed so thoroughly to convince her she was his 'boyfriend' and that certain abusive and violent behaviours were to be expected. It also shows how any child could be vulnerable to this sort of malevolent and cunning crime. There was nothing particular about Sammy that made her more susceptible - she came from a stable home, had loving parents, parents indeed who right from the get go tried like mad to stop the abuse; she, just like any other child was flattered by the attention of someone who seemed more mature (oh how ironic of course!) and just like most other girls of her age, loved the idea of having a boyfriend. That's it, that's all it takes - although of course, had the police and the social services taken any notice of her dad, or had the police arrested Ash years before, this would never have happened. It's also insightful that her grooming began even before Ash, with two of his associates normalising underage sex. This has often struck me before - often it looks as if the groomers are targeting girls who are 'up for it' or already in trouble in some way - but in reality it's often just that the grooming process started even earlier. Well done Sammy for this book and for all the work you continue to do, I salute you.

Arrived on time and my husband is very pleased with it.

I am struck by the beast-like squalor permeating the lives of the Pakistani child rapists described in this book: their days seem to be a sequence of robbing Post Offices, dealing drugs, drinking, living off takeaways. There's the occasional cab driving, but most of their time seems to be spent driving around schools to pick up girls, bombarding them with texts, then taking them to parking lots to rape them in their cars, or to empty houses to rape them on the kitchen floor. They seem to do this *every day* with multiple victims, which requires an inordinate amount of free time. How they support themselves and the trail of doomed children they leave behind (for they also can't help impregnating most of their victims), I do not know. No woman would go near these beastly losers unless forced (I'm thinking of their poor Pakistani wives) or groomed (enter their white, working-class child victims). All they had to offer to their victims were junk food, alcohol and car rides: this was enough, because those poor girls didn't know any better. This should be mandatory reading in schools to remind young girls of their value and precious humanity, and to show them with depressing clarity that grown men who approach children are not just criminals: they are sorry excuses of human beings who are only capable of destructing themselves and others; sunk costs to society and their families; undesirables whose only chance of getting sex is by deceit.

Looks like a used book as it has yellow spots

This girl did nothing to expose anything or anyone. She fully enabled the entire gang by refusing to acknowledge her abuse and by ignoring that this guy was a criminal by protecting him throughout while fully knowing that he was one, with proof and evidence. She could have saved many girls from abuse - and she chose not to. Disgusted.

The story in itself was good it just goes on and on and on

Excellent story but very sad