Even worse, these savage attacks happened after authorities had said the girl was not at risk. Once shielded by the media, these gangs of Muslim (called ‘Asians’ in the UK) groomers (pimps) who abduct, rape, and prostitute young white girls are the focus of a shocking new report into modern-day sex slavery in the UK by the Centre for Social Justice.

UK Daily Mail he girl, who gave evidence to the committee despite still being ‘deeply traumatised’ by the attacks, did not come from a background which put her at risk, but became enslaved after befriending girls vulnerable to abuse, it has been reported. Andrew Wallis, chairman of the working group that produced the report, would only tell the committee the girl ‘is now safe’ when asked what had happened to her since the attacks, according to the Sunday Times.

The report claims efforts to tackle modern slavery in the UK, including the sexual exploitation of children, are in a state of crisis. The CSJ, an independent think-tank set up by Iain Duncan Smith, has attacked the Government for its ‘inadequate response’ to the issue after the investigation uncovered a ‘shocking underworld’ of human trafficking.

Its study found more than 1,000 adults and children were trafficked into or within the UK in 2011/2012, but the figure could be ‘only the tip of the iceberg’.

Among the cases were British and foreign victims who had been forced into the sex trade, a life of crime or domestic labour. British girls trafficked within Britain for the sex trade made up nearly one half of all UK slavery victims in the latest set of figures.

Christian Guy, managing director of the CSJ, said: ‘Our research has uncovered a shocking underworld in which children and adults, many of them UK citizens, have been forced into lives of utter degradation.

‘Yet the authorities are either failing to understand the nature of this abuse or turning a blind eye to its existence. Our once great nation of abolitionists is a shameful shadow of its former self.’

The think-tank is campaigning for a radical overhaul of measures to combat 21st century slavery, including bringing all human trafficking and modern slavery offences together

It added that victims should be encouraged to come forward without the threat of facing prosecution over immigration breaches or crimes they have committed since being trafficked. More training is also needed to ensure police officers, immigration officials and social workers recognise the scale and nature of the problem.

Nine Asian men were jailed last year for between four and 19 years for grooming young white girls in and around the town of Rochdale. The men picked them up from the school gates and took them to houses and flats to be plied with alcohol and drugs before being passed around for sex.

Forty-seven children were identified as victims of the exploitation that left many of their lives in tatters.