Home Office: Gang injunctions 'last resort' for girls
Jess Brown
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Court injunctions for young women involved with gangs should be used as a last resort due to their vulnerability, the Home Office has said.
New guidance published by the Home Office on how police and local authorities should use gang injunctions states that they can be used on young women and girls, but stresses that individual circumstance must be considered.
The warning follows several research reports highlighting the susceptibility of young women involved with gangs to sexual violence and rape.
The new guidance states that, for girls associated with gangs, “the heightened risk they face owing to their gender must be properly considered”.
"Injunction applications made against gang-involved women and girls must take account of their specific needs and experiences, which are often different to those of gang-associated men and boys," the guidance states.
"Women and girls who are associated with gangs are at risk of violence, particularly sexual violence (including sexual assault, rape and sexual exploitation).
"Whilst some may choose to take part in gang-related crime, they can also be subject to coercion to commit crimes such as carrying weapons or drugs."
The guidance states that agencies can apply for an injunction against a female respondent for "encouraging" or "assisting" gang-related violence or gang-related drug dealing, rather than for "engaging" in such violence directly.
But it adds that before these women and girls are faced with an injunction, agencies must make efforts to educate them "about the harm that their involvement in gangs is causing, including risk to themselves via such association".
It also calls on them to raise awareness of, or refer them to, appropriate support services in their local area.
Karen Bradley, minister responsible for preventing abuse and exploitation, said gang and youth violence has a devastating impact on the young people who get caught up in it, as well as their families and communities.
"It is not an issue that any one agency or government department can tackle alone," she said.
"It requires the police, teachers, social workers, housing officers, youth workers, employment advisers and many others working together, and sharing information in order to safeguard vulnerable young people and target the most violent."
Gang injunctions have been available for use with 14- to 17-year-olds since January 2012 as part of a series of measures announced by Home Secretary Theresa May to deal with the fallout of the 2011 riots.
In February 2014, the Home Office vowed to increase their use after it emerged they had been used just twice in gang hotspot areas.
