Gang violence report hits out at constant focus on knife crime

Building Bridges, seen exclusively by CYP Now, is the result of a two-year probe by a team of Londoners aged 16 to 25 to identify how best to tackle gang and weapon crime in the capital.

The report, to be published next week, will criticise policymakers for focusing on knife crime and attempts to solve the problem with stop and search. Instead, the 21 young people who produced the report call for action on the causes of violence.

Carlene Firmin, the project's 24-year-old team leader, said the emphasis on knife crime meant policy was focused on how violence is inflicted rather than why. "Knives are one of a whole host of weapons gangs use, and this is drawing away the focus from all weapons that are used against young people, be it hammers, compasses or guns," she said.

Firmin added that some of the 79 young people questioned said gang rape was being used as a form of revenge: "While it's shocking to those who don't know about it, the young people we spoke to said it is something that is being used as a weapon."

Instead of stop and search, which the young people said would be ineffective, the report will call for a greater focus on prevention by tackling problems such as a lack of aspiration, a culture of individualism, fear, poverty and a lack of educational opportunities for young people.

The report will say agencies, including housing, education, employment, health and transport services, must work together more to tackle the issues. It will also back the introduction of youth-led projects to address the issues, since these "work because young people trust other young people". The report will also call for improvements in black history education, since this was feeding into a feeling of exclusion among black teenagers.

The £11,300 study was funded by volunteering charity v and the Big Boost fund. It was supported by the Race on the Agenda think-tank and will be launched at the Building Bridges Conference in London on 21 July.

- www.rota.org.uk.