Tackling Youth Violence: Special Report

The latter part of the previous decade saw rising public and media concern over levels of youth violence. A number of high-profile stabbings of young people in inner cities, combined with the expansion of county lines drug operations – many using young people for transport, dealing and intimidation – across the country, prompted Theresa May’s government to ramp up stop-and-search use and the introduction of tougher penalties for being caught in possession of a knife.

Among the array of data collected on violent crime, there are figures to show the number of convictions of under-18s for knife offences rose in the period 2017-19, as they did for 18- to 24-year-olds. Over the same period, hospitals saw more children and young people who were victims of “assault with a sharp object”. Murders of under-18s with a sharp instrument over the same period have stayed relatively flat – although they have risen markedly among those aged 18 to 24.

Since the start of the pandemic there has been a drop in knife-related assaults and sentences recorded across all age groups, unsurprising considering all the restrictions to movements since March 2020. However, there are rising concerns that the factors fuelling youth violence – poverty, economic uncertainty, gang activity and cuts to support services on the ground – have only been exacerbated by the pandemic.

The government seems focused on pursuing a law and order response to youth violence, where as many in the youth work sector say the issue needs to be tackled as a public health emergency. The latest figure to argue for this is former children’s commissioner for England, Anne Longfield who has set up the Commission for Young Lives to look at ways to divert vulnerable young people away from gang violence.