Girls in gangs are leading “desperate lives” in which “rape is used as a weapon and carrying drugs and guns is seen as normal”, a think tank has said.
The Centre for Social Justice said the “daily suffering” of thousands of women and girls “goes largely unnoticed”.
Girls as young as eight are being used to carry drugs, it added.
The CSJ called for youth workers to be embedded in hospital trauma units to identify victims, and for more support to be given to help girls leave gangs.
The CSJ – a right-leaning think tank established by current cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith when he was Conservative Party leader – carried out the research with the London youth charity XLP, speaking to current and former gang members, voluntary organisations and government agencies.
Targets
Researchers producing the Girls and Gangs report heard that:
- Female gang members in their teens are being pressured to have sex with boys as young as 10 to initiate males into gangs
- One case in which a schoolgirl was abducted and sexually assaulted by nine males because she criticised a gang member
- Young women associated with rival gangs are targets, in some cases forced to take part in a “line up”, where they are made to perform sexual acts on several men in a row
- Girls and young women are frequently used to hide weapons and drugs – sometimes in pushchairs – because they are less likely to be stopped and searched by police
Involvement in gang culture has a detrimental impact on the education of girls and young women, researchers said, suggesting that some schools had turned a blind eye to gang activity in order to protect their reputations.
One headteacher told the study: “We can’t compete with the attraction of fast cars, sex and drugs.”
Edward Boyd, CSJ deputy policy director, said: “We are often unsighted about the desperate lives of girls embroiled in gangs.
“While the media regularly shines a spotlight on the criminality of male members, the daily suffering of girls goes largely unnoticed.
“They live in a parallel world where rape is used as a weapon and carrying drugs and guns is seen as normal.”
The report said a Home Office gangs strategy launched in 2011 had not made enough progress.
It called for:
- A scheme adopted by King’s College and St Thomas’ Hospitals in London to place youth workers on trauma wards to be expanded
- More support for women and girls when their boyfriends are arrested and imprisoned for gang activity
- Urgent research to be carried out to identify the true scale of the problem
“The data we have is merely the tip of the iceberg and at XLP there is no doubt that we see increasing numbers of girls dragged into this appalling world of exploitation, criminality and hopelessness,” Patrick Regan, chief executive, said.
A recent report by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner suggested almost 2,500 children were known to be victims of child sexual exploitation by gangs and groups, although that is widely thought to be a conservative estimate.
The CSJ will host a conference on girls and gangs in London on Monday.
Source: BBC