Since 2016, Nicky Park Director of Criminal Justice and Women’s Services, has led St Giles Trust, in developing and delivering gender specific services providing holistic, tailored support to women and girls at risk or involved with the criminal justice system whilst recognising the importance of embedding this learning within our male criminal justice services and early intervention programmes.
10 years ago, St Giles provided a service called WIRE which supported women on their release from prison, helping them stay safe and supported towards a positive future.
As we helped hundreds of women to get their lives back on track, we often asked what would have happened if we hadn’t been there for them at this critical point in their lives. And – just as crucially – we asked if we would have needed to be there at all if we had been there for them in their teens. Our work has highlighted the critical need for systemic change. We must shift from a reactive, punitive approach to one of early intervention and prevention. By investing in services and systems that support girls and young women, we can potentially eliminate the need for crisis intervention later in life.
Supporting girls and young women at risk of violence and exploitation reaps many benefits for the future, especially given women’s roles as mothers and primary carers. Helping women stay out of the justice system has a direct, positive impact on their children, other family members and wider communities. It prevents children losing their mothers to custody in the future and breaks the intergenerational cycle of crime which sees children whose parents go to prison at an increased risk of going there themselves.
However, funding for gender-specific services aimed at girls and young women is limited – comprising less than 2% of all funding targeted at violence-reduction services for young people.
This is partly because there is little known about the real scale of the issue – the Youth Justice Board found that 13% of proven youth offences in 2022 were committed by girls and these were mainly in the less serious category. But this is an underestimation of the real extent of the issue and does not capture vulnerabilities that exist outside of the youth justice system.
Girls entering the youth justice system are vulnerable and likely to have experienced trauma, abuse and victimisation. Custodial settings can be retraumatising and Susannah Hancock’s review makes excellent recommendations around establishing an evidence-based and gender responsive pathway for girls and the importance of training for professionals.
It is important to recognise that girls and young women present differently to services than boys. They are more like to be presenting to services due to mental ill-health, self-harm, suicidality and overdose than as victims and perpetrators of weapons crime. We must shift the lens we view behaviours to a gendered lens. Understanding that although girls present differently their behaviour stems from a place of trauma and adds layers of vulnerability and complexity.
Ultimately, we need to look beyond the presenting issue and ask ourselves “What has happened” and understand the root causes of why girls and young women become vulnerable to exploitation and violence.
Factors such as familial and peer abuse, poverty, exclusion from mainstream education and unaddressed mental ill health issues due to childhood trauma all increase a girl’s vulnerability. Sadly, they usually have nowhere to turn to – the services that are available are either designed for boys and do not fit the specific needs of girls, or due to a lack in funding do not have the geographical scope or resources to provide intensive support required. As a result, girls look for safety elsewhere and can fall into the hands of someone looking to groom and exploit them.
This is where support such as our Libby Girls project in north Yorkshire is so crucial. Our mobile van parks up in places where girls hang out and provide a friendly open-access drop-in service where girls who want support can talk about any issue worrying them. It adopts a whole systems approach – is open, non-judgemental and supports the girls on their terms. The team of skilled professionals with lived experience of some of the issues the girls are going through provide guidance on the wide range of issues the girls are experiencing and advocate on their behalf with other services as needed.
However, such targeted support for girls is rare, underfunded and often overlooked. As such, girls and young women continue to be slipping under the radar and left vulnerable to criminal and sexual exploitation.
All girls growing up today face a myriad of challenges finding their place in the world with the added complexities of social media and increasing threat of extreme misogyny. For the ones supported by St Giles and charities like us, they are at an increased risk. We owe it to them to ensure they have the right opportunities, care and help from someone they can trust.
Further reading:
Liberty Links bridges support gaps for women in rural communities – St Giles
Footsteps Evaluation – St Giles
St Giles warns against under-estimating the criminal exploitation of girls – St Giles