A woman has told how as a teenager she was raped and forced to act as a “mule” carrying weapons and drugs by leaders of a south London gang.
The victim, now in her twenties, lifted the lid on the treatment endured by vulnerable teenage girls in an interview with The Croydon Guardian as a warning to others at risk of being caught up with gangs.
The Evening Standard’s award-winning Frontline London campaign has highlighted the issue of sexual abuse of girls in gangs. The woman said that, as a teenager, she carried weapons, including a gun, as leaders thought police were less likely to stop her.
She described how she was stabbed when she eventually made a decision to break free from the Croydon gang.
She said: “I had to figure out myself how to get out. It was like a game of snakes and ladders. I would take some steps forward then 400 back. It was a scary time.”
Her account comes as a report by the Centre for Social Justice and youth charity XLP calls for urgent action, criticising the Home Office for failing to do enough to combat the plight of “invisible” female gang members.
It estimates thousands of girls and young women are involved in gangs.
