CYP Now - Youth violence response based on race, class and gender stereotypes, young people say

The response to youth violence in Manchester is too often “based on race, class and gender-related stereotypes rather than lived reality”, young people have said.

Young people are calling for initiatives that bridge the "understanding gap" between them and professionals. Picture: Robin Hammond

A report by youth leadership charity Reclaim based on discussions held with young people in Manchester before the first Covid-19 lockdown in March, states that any “aims to tackle serious youth violence will fail if it doesn’t involve the young people it affects”.

The research, funded by Manchester Community Safety Partnership, Young Manchester and the Co-op Foundation, found that Manchester’s young people felt media attention and the response to violent crime nationally and locally focused too much on the symptoms rather than underlying causes.

It adds that: “Young people told us that they see the response to violent crime as superficial, stigmatising and too often based on race, class or gender-related stereotypes rather than their lived reality.

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