Threatened and terrorized. Helpless and hurting. Angry and alone.

For the past 16 years in Rotherham, England, a Pakistani gang has sexually assaulted over 1,400 young girls.

One of the survivors is 25-year-old Lucy, who finally confessed to her parents at the age of 14 that she had been sexually abused for two years.

“They say it’s vulnerable girls these people are after,” Lucy’s mother said in an interview with The New York Times. “Well, of course they’re vulnerable. They’re innocent. They’re children.”

Nor is it just Lucy who has such a horrifying story.

“I’d saved all my clothes … and I gave the police clothes as evidence,” said 24-year-old Emma in an interview with the BBC. “They lost the clothes (and) said it was my word against his. The police said they couldn’t offer any protection.”

According to The New York Times, one girl reported that gang rape was the norm in her neighborhood. Some parents were even charged for wasting police time if they called in about their missing daughters multiple times.

“These were throwaway kids to a lot of people, and that’s a shame,” said Associate Professor of Political Science Ken Gilmore. “We tend to care about some kids more than others.”

Many wonder how this could have gone on for so long without police action.

“The officers were hesitant to (act) toward a group of people of entirely the same race,” said Guilford sophomore and Judicial Affairs Steering Chair Molly Anne Marcotte.

Most of the victims also have something in common.

“These girls were (mostly) from really poor neighborhoods, foster homes, orphanages or really poor, working class families,” said Gilmore. “If it had happened in a rich neighborhood there would have been a lot more stink about it.”

Along with racism and classism, the police may have other reasons for wanting to keep these attacks under wraps.

“There are cultural things at play here,” said Director of Study Abroad Jack Zerbe. “The British don’t air their dirty laundry.”

Police did more than just neglect to save hundreds of girls from abuse.

“These girls were often treated with utter contempt,” said Lucy’s mother, remembering the police referring to Lucy’s attackers as her “boyfriends” and the victims as “tarts.”

Often, the police would use words like “grooming” to describe what happened to these girls.

“You’re brutalizing these women and turning them into a piece of property,” said Gilmore. “You’re not calling it what it is: it’s brutalizing helpless kids who have no one to turn to.”

Recently, retaliations by English fascists have led to further complications.

“It isn’t a race issue, but Islam is a problem and it needs to be looked at in this society,” said Andrew Edge, member of the anti-Islamic English Defense League in an interview with Vice.

According to Unite Against Fascism member Weman Bennett in an interview with The Guardian, these groups are taking advantage of the attacks to promote their own agenda.

“None of those groups … have got any interest in truly representing people or developing anything inside Rotherham,” said Bennett.

Today, the investigation continues. Lucy, afer years of struggling with depression and anorexia, has begun to tell her story.

“That shows immense strength on her part,” said Marcotte. “In that way, she can prevent these things from happening again.”