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The 16 years + 1,400 figure come from the same report, the Jay Inquiry, which estimated 1,400 over those 16 years. In other words, the length of time could be longer, but if it is the number of victims would go up.
The gang certainly operated within Rotherham town limits. The most likely alternative target in the surrounding area is not the rest of the borough (which gets rural) but instead Sheffield. No, we don't know.
This is a misunderstanding of UK class structure but I think is probably beyond the scope of what I can explain. Rotherham is actually extremely poor. Mostly bottom 10% of the country bad via "Index of Multiple Deprivation". It just doesn't show up in unemployment because in the UK you are either employed, briefly between jobs, or on some kind of scheme where you aren't employed but not unemployed either. The actual level of economic inactivity in the area is 28.7%, higher than the 21.2% average for England.
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