Gang culture: Urgent action is needed to protect girls who are raped, threatened and forced into gangs

The vast majority of the girls and young women caught up in gangs are reluctant ‘gang members’. Many have  been coerced and forced against their free will. Others become both victim and perpetrator, actively engaging in recruiting other young people in a futile bid to stop themselves being exploited sexually or in other criminal ways. They are terrified and traumatised. 

Very few chose to join a gang of their own volition. Those that do have described how they joined for reasons of friendship, loyalty and solidarity, for a sense of belonging, self-affirmation, to attain power and status and for personal resource gain. They are often initiated into gangs through sexual exploitation. These gangs function either as male run gangs with female auxiliaries serving other members or as coed gangs - mixed genders but with males, almost always, taking the lead and control.

There are prevailing misconceptions of who ‘gang members’ are in our society. I have found that girls and young women from all demographics are targeted by gang members, and used to transport drugs, money and weapons within cities and towns and from urban areas to rural locations and coastal towns .Others are targeted to be sexually exploited. ‘Clean skins’ are preferred. These being young women and girls, not previously known to police and statutory agencies, who come often from more affluent backgrounds.

The harm done to these young lives cannot be underestimated. I have come across the most shocking cases or rape as initiation into gangs. Others are threatened with weapons or told that if they don’t comply, their family members will suffer the consequences. Having themselves experienced the consequences, they have little choice but to do as they are told. One case that I came across was a young person aged 15 who  had been lured to the steps of a block of flats by a young male who had befriended her, only to find a group of other males waiting there. They took it in turns to rape her, whilst the others watched. This gang rape was used as means of coercing her into their gang, through inflicting upon her cruel and inhumane torture, including sexual and psychological abuse, along with threats issued to her that her family would suffer too. Others, are picked on for presenting vulnerabilities - bullied and harassed into joining.

Knife crime related to gang activity is of particular concern. Recent data highlights that there has been a 76% surge in knife crime over the past decade. More education, safeguarding and multiagency collaboration is needed.  Florence Eshalomi, MP for Vauxhall has also been calling for an increased focus upon females in gangs to be reviewed. 

Professor Hannah Smithson, director of the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University, said: “ Our research and evidence gathering provide a clear sense of direction for policymakers seeking to tackle these problems, support girls and young women to succeed and prevent harm. A greater focus-alongside investment-in early help and the development of community, gender based, culturally representative, trauma-informed support is key. Creating environments where girls and young people can build trusted relationships with people who they can relate to, and go on to disclose what is going on is crucial.”

In the face of overwhelming violence perpetrated and adversely affecting young men in gangs, it has been all too easy to overlook young women caught up in this threatening, unsafe and volatile world. Whilst they make up only a small percentage but increasing proportion of gang members, they face the highest rates of victim- offender experiences. It is imperative that any and all gang reduction programmes, consider the complexities of why people are in gangs and especially why and how girls and young women end up in gangs. We need to do that quickly for all our sakes.