Shropshire Star

Stop and search could save girls from being groomed, says ex-gang member

A youth mentor who was repeatedly abused by her violent partner now runs an organisation helping young girls groomed into gang culture.

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A mother-of-two who was “forced” into a gang in her early teens has called for police to use stop and search powers on girls and young women to “save them” from being groomed by criminals.

Lucy Martindale, director of anti-knife crime organisation Operation Shutdown, said girls are “inevitably” becoming associated with gangs because “dominant” males are forcing them to hide weapons or contraband to avoid police detection.

Ms Martindale was just nine when she witnessed the murder of her cousin in Brixton when he was stabbed in the head with a screwdriver.

She said his death made her realise the severity of gang culture in the borough.

One of just 10 girls in her “block”, Ms Martindale said she was often pressured as a teenager to hold weapons for older men.

The 29-year-old told the PA news agency that if she or the other young women refused “to do as they were told” they were “knocked out, head-butted and violently attacked”.

Lucy Martindale, campaigner and director of Operation Shutdown, an anti-youth violence organisation (PA)

There is little data on girls and women associated or involved in gangs but Ms Martindale believes lack of funding, reduced community police and youth services is to blame.

A Girls Associated with Gangs report published last week by Vauxhall MP Florence Eshalomi demanded the Mayor of London provide funding for early intervention schemes to support vulnerable females.

It also urged the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to work with specialist organisations to train police officers and social workers to better identify victims.

Through Freedom of Information requests Ms Eshalomi sent to all London councils, data showed that 1,049 women and girls were at risk of gang association – as identified and assessed by their children’s services department.

Ms Martindale says she believes stop and search could be a solution in tackling the wide gap in tracking females associated or involved in gangs.

“I lived in a notorious estate in Brixton and I went from estate to estate and boys would say to me – if they see a police van patrolling the area – ‘here hold this because they are not going to stop you – they will stop us’.

“I think stop and search could save them (females). Yes, you’re always going to get criticism if things are not carried out in the right way and there’s discrimination, but if it’s done right, no-one can complain.

Police officer
Police should stop and search girls and young women to help them, a campaigner said (PA)

She added adult women are vulnerable too and she has spoken with mothers “forced to hide guns under their pillows and drugs in their kitchens”.

Quite often girls are the victims of grooming, sexual violence, modern slavery and domestic abuse, Ms Martindale said.

“My ex-partner tried to kill me. I lost everything trying to run away from him… I’m seeing a lot of young girls who fear for their lives but are so scared because they think if they tell the police, the boys are going to be arrested, eventually released and they’re gonna come and kill them for reporting”.

The most recent publication of the Gangs Matrix consisted of six women and girls compared to the 2,546 men and boys.

The list is an intelligence tool used to identify and risk assess gang members across London as well as victims and those at risk of attacks.

The Met Police said the aim of the matrix is to highlight possible gaps in activity or intelligence on violent gang subjects.

Ms Martindale said if police were to stop more young females they would have the chance to speak up and explain what was happening to them.

She added: “You will get to the bottom of why she was carrying the drugs or weapons and that can hopefully save her from the grooming.”

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