Written by Janet
In Britain, violent crimes by girls, some as young as 10, have increased by 50% in the last 4 years. In 2008, there were 15,413 violent attacks by girls, up from 10,412 in 2004, according to a Ministry of Justice report. If averaged out, that comes to about 300 attacks by girls under 18 years of age, each week.
Racially aggravated attacks by girls more than doubled, from 351 to 748 in the same period, although the report said this could be because offences were better recorded.
Shadow justice secretary Dominic Grieve said: “This is a damning indictment of broken Britain under a Labour Government. “Ministers must get a grip of this shocking trend.” Still, at the same time, public order offences by girls rose nearly 40%, from 4,273 in 2004 to 5,852 last year.
Young women make up a larger proportion of the total of women arrested by police than young men do of the total number of men, the report showed. The Youth Justice Board have commissioned research into patterns of offending by young females, which is expected to be published in 2009.
These crimes can be devastating for the victims, and must be met head on, according to a minister of justice spokesperson.
Richard Garside, director of the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies at King’s College, London, said the increase could be due to more work being done by Youth Offending Teams.
The changes could show that the State was more effective at intervening in young people’s lives, he said.
