WE MUST WORK TOGETHER TO ROUT OUT CHILD ABUSE

Suleman Nagdi's First Person column from today's Leicester Mercury: 

We must work together to rout [sic] out child abuse 

Protect the vulnerable and don't let evil go unchallenged, urges Suleman Nagdi 

At certain points within our lives, we are faced with dilemmas requiring us to stand up for those who are vulnerable and make a point which will safeguard them. A recent report highlighting around 400 cases of children being abused in Madrassas is one such instance. When I read about the issue, it left me feeling dismayed. 

In recent years, we have faced numerous examples of abuse against children; whether it is the tragic case of a single child such as Baby P or the systematic abuse seen at the Haut de la Garenne children's home in Jersey. We know it exists in our society and wherever we find it we must act upon it. Above all else, we must challenge the tendency to hide or bury it. 

Where Muslim religious schools or Madrassas are concerned, the need to challenge it is personal for me. This is my religious community and I know that my religion detests such abhorrent actions, as does all natural human sensibility. 

Child abuse in all its hideous guises has no place in any faith or ethnic group and should be condemned whenever and wherever it occurs. All communities in Britain value and cherish the innocence of childhood and this must be protected against those who would seek to usurp it for their own disgusting ends. 

As an active member of the British Muslim community, I am proudly a part of the local Federation of Muslim Organisations (FMO) which has for many years striven to safeguard children against possible abuse. 

Crucial to the FMO's safeguarding work is the "Madrassa Project", a collaborative effort with the local authority to ensure the safeguarding of children in Madrassas. 

The FMO acts as a bridge between its various partners including the local authority as well as the police and the local Madrassas in Leicester. The aim of the project is to prevent child abuse in Madrassas by providing Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks, child protection training, whistle blowing and education to individuals and groups working with children. 

The project seeks to investigate any instances of child abuse in collaboration with its partners. Having now run for a few years, the project has been highly successful, garnering praise from its various partners. This project is our stand against all forms of child abuse, and the recent reports tell us that we must press the project even further forward. 

Just as mainstream schools have spent decades ensuring that children are safe from mindless, repulsive individuals, the Madrassas are walking the same path but with some way to go. 

The key to our success is to ensure that whenever we come across anything suspicious, we report it. This is the only means for routing out this evil and providing our children with the childhoods they deserve. Children are our wealth and prosperity.

Suleman Nagdi is spokesman for the Federation of Muslim Organisations