[September 04, 2014] One of the greatest disappointments in leadership comes about when those in senior positions fail to see a big problem as it occurs and then fail to take action when they do. This is what happened at Veterans Administrations hospitals across the United States when an audit revealed that “double books” were kept for veteran medical appointments to hide long wait times; senior leaders initially did nothing about it. Now comes news from Rotherham, England that an investigation has exposed local leaders’ failing to take action against a very serious crime. Local officials looked the other way when the rape of over 1,400 young girls was happening.
The local government, it appears, tolerated rape and sexual violence on a large scale because the perpetrators were Muslims from the Pakistani community. Most of the rape victims were white and from poor families. Local officials feared that by bringing this to the courts, they would be accused of racism. These rapes in Rotherham go back at least 14 years, yet everyone in authority appeared to know about it and did nothing. The British home secretary says “institutionalized political correctness” was why these girls were left on their own.1
Earlier reports were made that brought this to light, but these reports were ignored. One report from 2006, for example, said that “one of the difficulties that prevents this issue being dealt with effectively is the ethnicity of the main perpetrators.”2 Rape is a crime and the race of either the victims and perpetrators is irrelevant to their behavior. But, not in Rotherham. Political correctness give power to criminal activity by turning the heads of those responsible for action.
This example of failed leadership shows that cultural blinders can be just as bad as legal binders.
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[1] http://www.rotherham.gov.uk/downloads/file/1407/independent_inquiry_cse_in_rotherham
[2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/02/rotherham-sexual-abuse_n_5751882.html