25th March 2014

Girls face brutality and exploitation in gang underworld (report from CSJ)

Thousands of British girls and young women are entangled in a brutal gang culture where sexual exploitation, guns and drug-running are a daily reality, a new report from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) reveals.

* Girls used as drugs and weapons carriers with lack of scrutiny from police
* Gangs using sexual exploitation and rape to control girls and young women * CSJ says youth workers should be placed in hospitals to find gang members

Thousands of British girls and young women are entangled in a brutal gang culture where sexual exploitation, guns and drug-running are a daily reality, a new report from the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) reveals.
The investigation, which looks at how gang life can impact girls and young women, builds on previous CSJ work which shows how some communities have been devastated by gang activity.
Researchers heard how female gang members in their teens are being pressured to have sex with young boys – some as young as 10 – to initiate males into gangs. The report also outlines a case where one schoolgirl was abducted and sexually assaulted by nine males because she criticised a gang member.
The study heard that rape is used as a weapon and girls and young women associated with rival gangs are targets. One charity told the CSJ about a practice known as a ‘line up’, where young females are made to perform sexual acts on groups of men in a row.
A recent report said almost 2,500 children are known to be victims of child sexual exploitation by gangs and groups – but it is widely agreed this number is a conservative estimate.
A study by Bedfordshire University asked 96 young people connected with gangs what they identified as being part of gang life.
 * Half identified examples of ‘sex in exchange for (perceived) status or protection’;
 * 34 per cent identified examples of ‘multiple perpetrator rape’;
 * 39 per cent identified examples of ‘sex in exchange for other tangible goods’.
Girls and young women are also frequently used to stash weapons and as drug mules, because they are less likely to be stopped and searched by police. For example, in London last year only six per cent of stop-and-searches were conducted on females. Between 2011/12, it was five per cent in Manchester and three per cent in Merseyside.
The CSJ said the Government was right in 2011 to identify that authorities did not know enough about girls and young women associated with gangs. Yet three years later too little progress has been made.
Part a longer Press Release at http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/UserStorage/pdf/Press%20releases%202013/CSJ-gangs-press-release.pdf
Download Full Report from http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/UserStorage/pdf/Pdf%20reports/Girls-and-Gangs-FINAL-VERSION.pdf