Girl gangs are making a comeback, with an attitude and aggression that bear an unsettling resemblance to boy gangs. They dress like the boys, they fight like boys, even the crimes they commit are what the boy gangs are notorious for: rioting, robbing and extorting money, all offences which carry jail sentences. One of the five detectives interviewed for this report, offered this snapshot of today's girl thugs: "In the past, girls broke the law in such areas as unlawful assembly, fights over men, and in staring incidents at public places such as discos.
"Now, they are doing what boy gangs do: breaking into cars to steal, threatening people and demanding money from schoolmates and neighbours."

Official figures show a disturbing rise in teenage girls committing extortions, robberies and other crimes. In the first six months of this year, girls were involved in: 16 robberies, up from five last year; 25 thefts, up from 21; 236 shoplifting cases, up from 188, and 15 extortion cases, up from 10. In 1996, there were no reports of girls involved in extortion cases. A total of 310 girls were arrested in the first six months of this year, compared with 273 in the first half of last year. The detectives said that the pace picked up last September. They now make two to three arrests a week. Before, one a week was about average. Most of these girl gangsters are between 13 and 17 years old, although the police have come across girls as young as 10. Police officers have sometimes mistaken them for boys because of their "short hair, men's shirt, trousers and Doc Martens shoes". And when they fight, it is with a vengeance.
"Before, the girls would scratch and pull each other's hair. Now, they punch, kick and scratch their victims with sharp objects such as small knives. In some cases, they attack with stiletto-heeled shoes, leaving a bloody mess."

Female gangs are an interesting phenomenon. They are increasingly involved in gangs and the female population being incarcerated is going up. The most common reason given by girls for joining gangs is "protection", usually from other girls, but sometimes from sexual or physical abuse by the father. Another big reason was rebellion by girls towards their parent(s). They didn’t want to have to follow the rules or stated they didn’t get along with their parents. Many times they just wanted the power and freedom to do whatever they wanted and gangs provided that need to have fun. Their gang friends often replaced their family and provided a sense of belonging.

Teens Against Gang Violence

Not every teen thinks gangs are cool. There are clubs against gang violence with over hundreds of teen members participating in them. for example, The Teens Against Gang Violence program (TAGV) is a volunteer, youth led community-based program located in Dorchester, Massachusetts. It provides violence prevention, education, and intervention services to youth service providers, youth, and family. Their vision is to eliminate violence in all forms. This program is for people ages 8-20+ of all ethnics and cultural backgrounds. The more of these programs that are created the better it is for younger kids who are growing up exposed to gangs. It gives them a variety of other things to do with their time instead of being involved with violence. Most children deal with gang violence pressure at an early age. They figure because its what they've been exposed to all their life they have no choice but to join a gang. That's why we need more clubs and teen related activities to show them that there is always another option. Although it may seem as if all our teen have gone hay wire on these new gang phase there are still some teens out there who want to do right.

Gang Violence(Teens and Adults)

Gang violence is something happening around this city everyday. It's not only males now, however, young females are also getting involved with gang related activities. According to these girls when joining a gang they feel a sense of power, protection, respect, and " belonging to a family". These young girls state that school is very dangerous place and you have to do what you can to survive and for them that would be to join a gang. Initiation into a gang could include being beaten and kicked by other gang members, participating in a robbery or drive by, getting matching tattoos, or having sex with several male gang members at once. Usually most of these girls come from family issues such as physical abuse, poverty, or a broken home and feel the need to protect themselves from the outside world. However, sometimes these girls do have stable homes but join gangs under peer pressure. I really think it's sad that these girls believe it's necessary to put themselves through so much just to gain respect from their peers or to feel loved. There is always another option, joining a gang isn't the only way to deal with your problems.