Girls Trapped in Gangs ‘Living in a Parallel World’ of Sexual Abuse
Thousands of girls and young women are trapped in gangs and being forced to live ‘desperate lives’ where rape has become the norm.
Female gang members are stuck in an ‘appalling world of exploitation, criminality and hopelessness’, with sexual exploitation, drugs-running and gun handling part of everyday life.
The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) think tank, founded by work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith, warned ‘too little’ is changing despite the launch of a Home Office-led strategy into gang culture three years ago.
Researchers heard how female members are being pressured to have sex with boys - some as young as ten - to initiate males into gangs.
Rape is used to control the female members and as a weapon against girls and women associated with rival gangs.