First Minister signals support for meeting with grooming gang survivor

Nation.Cymru staff

The First Minister has indicated that a Welsh Government minister could meet a survivor of child sexual exploitation campaigning for a Wales-wide inquiry into grooming gangs, according to the Welsh Conservatives.

Emily Vaughn, who uses a pseudonym to protect her identity, was trafficked from south Wales to Telford as a child and has spoken publicly about being raped more than 1,000 times.

Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar raised her case during questions to the First Minister, asking for a meeting so ministers could hear directly about her experiences.

No date or minister has been named.

Ms Vaughn told Nation.Cymru in January 2025 that she wanted an inquiry focused on Wales, arguing that shortcomings in how exploitation was recorded could conceal the scale of abuse.

She said she had been contacted by other victims in Wales after publishing her book, Enslaved, in 2021.

“When my book came out, I was contacted by so many victims who live in Wales that said the same things had happened to them,” she said.

“But lots of young people just don’t want to put themselves at risk by coming forward.”

Ms Vaughn also described failures in the response when she sought help from police, saying she feared young victims could still face similar difficulties.

“When I first reported what happened to me to the police, they didn’t help me. They didn’t even know what it was or understand what they were doing,” she said.

“I think the same thing will still be happening now – that young victims are reaching out to the police and they are not receiving the help they need.”

The Welsh Conservatives said Ms Vaughn had previously sought information about the government’s work to tackle modern slavery and support survivors but had received no substantive response.

Mr Millar said: “Emily has shown extraordinary courage in speaking out about the horrific abuse she suffered. The voice of survivors must be at the heart of Welsh Government’s efforts to tackle modern slavery, grooming gangs and the appalling sexual abuse of children and vulnerable people.

“The perpetrators of these evil, wicked crimes must be brought to justice, and public bodies must be held accountable if there were failures to protect victims or respond appropriately to allegations of abuse.”

He added: “I very much hope that the meeting can be arranged as soon as possible and that it will convince the First Minister of the need for a Wales-wide inquiry into grooming gangs.”

Ms Vaughn contributed to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which examined abuse in England and Wales and published its final report in 2022 with 20 recommendations.

Senedd dispute

Her experiences became the subject of a Senedd dispute in January 2025 when the then Presiding Officer, Elin Jones, interrupted Mr Millar as he described the abuse.

Ms Vaughn criticised the intervention. Ms Jones subsequently explained that she had sought to protect victims from potentially distressing language and had not been sufficiently aware that Ms Vaughn had spoken publicly.

She said: “I applaud Emily Vaughn’s courage in speaking out, and I support her and other women and girls in their pursuit of justice.”