Girls in gangs: how they are recruited, exploited and trapped

There has long been a misconception that gangs are made up of boys and young men, typically from ethnic minority groups and disadvantaged backgrounds. But the reality is very different.

Girls and young women from all demographics are targeted by gang members, and used to transport drugs and weapons from urban areas to rural locations and coastal towns.

Research in London’s Waltham Forest in 2018 found that “clean skins” – children, especially young women and girls, not previously known to police and statutory agencies and often from wealthier backgrounds – are being targeted by gangs.