Safer London: helping young women escape from criminal gangs

The Safer London charity is working with councils across the capital to help young women caught up in criminal networks and at risk of sexual exploitation. Advocates working alongside council teams help hundreds of young women every year to escape the abuse.

The challenge

The role of girls in gangs and criminal networks is often hidden from view. But research by the Centre for Social Justice has shown it is a serious problem with gangs routinely targeting young and vulnerable girls.

The think-tank has called it an ‘appalling parallel world’ of sex abuse and crime in which male gang members entrap girls and use them for sexual rituals and gratification as well as to carry drugs because they know they are less likely to be searched by police. Identifying and helping such girls can be difficult for authorities.

The solution

Safer London is a charity that works with young people across the capital. One of its longest-running schemes is Empower which provides support one-to-one with young people aged 11 to 18, normally over a six-month period, who have fallen under the influence of criminal networks and are at risk of sexual exploitation.

The work is coordinated by young people’s advocates which are placed in council teams, such as youth offending teams, community safety units or children’s services. The service is currently working with 17 councils across the capital.

By working closely with the council teams, they are able to identify and have children referred to them that may need their help. Once a referral has been made, the advocates arrange to meet the young people and then gradually help them address the problems they face. The main focus is on personal safety and healthy relationships.

Safer London Project Manager Anna Reilly says: “At the start it is all about building up a relationship. The advocates will talk, they might do some worksheets and watch videos going through these issues.

“In time we may also look to get them involved in activities, such as music and dance groups. We even got one girl involved in a prestigious dance school on one occasion. It is about building their confidence and self esteem and mixing with people they can have healthy relationships with.

“We can also help them access other services : education, sexual health and mental health for example. Support can also be provided to families.”

A similar service is also provided by one of Safer London’s other services, London Gang Exit. It is aimed at a slightly older cohort than Empower – 16 to 24-year-olds – and is funded by London’s Office of Policing and Crime. It offers individuals support with housing, education and training and has a dedicated worker for young women.

The impact

The support provided helps change the lives of young people, stopping falling into a life of crime and exploitation.

Jess’ story is typical. She was 18 when she was referred to Empower by a gangs youth worker who had noticed her hanging around a number of different gang members. She had previously been involved in shoplifting, robbery offences and concealing weapons.

Jess was homeless and as she had nowhere else to go was sleeping on friends’ sofas. These friends were all gang members and she knew they were involved in dealing drugs and violent crime. She didn’t want to get involved with their activities, but they were the only people who had offered her support.

Through her work with Empower Jess was given help to find safer housing, supported to access counselling and secured work as an apprentice. “My whole life has changed,” she said.

But Jess is just one of many helped each year. Over the past 12 months more than 3,000 people have received support. They are assessed at the start and then every eight weeks for progress they are making against a range of measures from relationships and education to health. On average 80 per cent of outcomes show an improvement by the end of the support. Cathy Henchion, CSE coordinator at Lambeth Council, said the work done by Empower is invaluable. “We greatly value the expertise that the Empower worker is providing to vulnerable children.

“The worker is highly-skilled and the engagement from the girls referred to her is 100 per cent, which evidences her relationship skills. Children and young people who are being exploited by adults and others can be very distrustful of professionals and often do not wish to undertake direct work with their social worker.”

Lessons learned

“You have to be persistent,” said Ms Reilly. “At first our workers will spend a lot of time waiting in coffee shops with their laptops. It is not uncommon for the young people not to turn up.

"You have to keep going by returning the following week and build up that trust. These young people can be remarkably hard to engage.

“You also have to be prepared for the fact that they may not want to engage with the police. We will always try to support prosecutions, but our first concern is the welfare of the individual and getting them out of the situation they are in.”

Ms Reilly said the attitude and language used by professionals is also crucial. “I have seen examples of where social workers have put in people’s records that the young person ‘is putting themselves at risk or is involved in prostitution’. It suggests they are not a victim of exploitation when they are. We need to think carefully how we describe people as it shapes our attitudes towards them.”

How is the approach being sustained?

The number of councils the service works with is increasing all the time. Currently Empower has advocates in 17 councils. But meeting demand is a constant challenge.

Ms Reilly said: “We do not operate a waiting list. As these young people are in very vulnerable positions we don’t think it is safe to keep them waiting. “In some places we have five advocates, in others, it is just one. With extra funding we could do more. One of the key areas we want to focus on more is engaging with young men. They can be vulnerable and affected by exploitation too, but even in areas where we are funded to work with boys we currently do not get that many referrals.”

Contact

Anna Reilly

Project Manager, Safer London

​​[email protected]