Three Girls star Maxine Peake reveals her childhood friends were targeted for sex
MAXINE PEAKE is set to star in new BBC docu-drama Three Girls, which focusses on the sexual abuse of young girls in Rochdale and now she has revealed she could have been targeted herself.
Three Girls star Maxine Peake reveals her childhood friends were targeted for sex
The 42-year-old, who grew up near Bolton, said that she knew girls who suffered similar abuse as she watched them get into cars with much older men.
She explained: “I had two friends who were fostered and they went through this.
“We used to hang around on street corners at 12, 13, and cars would pull up, driven by men aged 26, 27.”
The actress went on to add to the Mail On Sunday: “I witnessed young girls getting in the cars and coming back and not talking about what had happened.
Maxine said she watched girls get into cars with older men
Maxine stars as social worked Sara Rowbotham who worked to expose the Rochdale scandal
“I was quite prudish. I had friends who lost their virginity at 13 and I’d be like, ‘Disgusting!’”
Maxine takes on the role of Sara Rowbotham, the social worker who exposed the Rochdale scandal in the three-part series after being repeatedly ignored when she voiced her concern.
The show will air over three consecutive nights and follow girls who were abused rather than the nine men who were convicted.
Maxine stars as social worked Sara Rowbotham who worked to expose the Rochdale scandal
The BBC are said to have worked very closely with the girls targeted and their families throughout production.
A spokesperson said: “It shows how the girls were ignored by the authorities directly responsible for their protection and how the abuse has impacted their lives.
“It raises awareness of an ongoing issue of national significance that has affected hundred of victims.”
Three Girls is set to air on BBC One in May.