Lorraine Kelly: Jayne Senior is a very brave woman, but what else is going on out there?

She was responsible for getting justice for the hundreds of young girls who were sexually abused in Rotherham for more than 15 years.

These crimes shocked the nation, but it was Jayne’s determination to make sure these young women were not ignored that is so inspiring.

Jayne isn’t a trained counsellor or social worker, and in fact many of the middle-class people in authority looked down their noses at her when she attempted to help young girls to quit drugs and get off the streets.

Instead of patronising or dismissing these girls, some of them heartbreakingly young, she would sit and listen to their stories and gradually gain their trust through a youth organisation called Risky Business.

She built up a disturbing dossier of young girls, some as young as 11, being raped and tortured.

I can’t go into detail here as the stories are so graphic and disturbing. But I’ve read Jayne’s book, Broken And Betrayed, and it makes you weep.

For more than a decade Jayne told police and social workers that horrendous abuse was being inflicted on girls in Rotherham by gangs of mainly Asian men.

Nothing was done.

She was told they didn’t want to rock the boat or appear racist.

This is just so ridiculous it almost beggars belief. Imagine putting political correctness above the safety of vulnerable children.

She also believes that because the girls appeared hard-faced, tough and were often prostitutes, their accusations were neither believed nor taken seriously.

The girls, often from broken homes or escaping from “care”, were expertly groomed by the evil, ruthless gang members.

At first they were wooed with gifts and affection and then, when they fell for the lies, they were ordered to sleep with other men and warned that they or their families would be beaten up or even killed if they failed to do what they were told.

It took the death of a young Rotherham girl, Laura Wilson, who was found stabbed in a canal, to finally bring the horrific abuse to light.

Knowing she could face criminal charges or even prison for leaking documents, Jayne still decided she had to get the truth told. She went to investigative journalist Andrew Norfolk and gave him information about her cases, and the lack of action by those who should have been protecting these vulnerable girls.

It emerged that there were at least 1,400 cases of child exploitation and that Jayne’s organisation was the only one that tried to help.

Eventually those responsible were brought to trial and found guilty.

Six of them, including Arshid Hussain and his brothers Basharat and Bannaras, were sentenced to a total of 102 years,

What I find so disturbing about this case is that it just can’t be unique to Rotherham.

There must be similar gangs of evil, twisted child-abusers in other parts of the country.

The problem is that those victims don’t have a Jayne Senior to fight their battles.

And that should keep us all awake at night.

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