Boxing clever in fight to protect girls from gangs
BOXING, football and theatre are some of the latest weapons in the war to prevent girls from being drawn into gangs in Greater Manchester.
A £300,000 project, led by Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), aims to boost girls’ aspiration and steer them away from a life of crime or harm at the hands of gangs.
Criminology researcher Dr Deborah Jump said women can be involved or used by gangs in several ways, from participating as members to facing sexual exploitation.
“Typically, it is usually males who are thought of when we talk about gangs and their impact, but many women are affected,” says Dr Jump, at MMU.
“The area of gang-involved women is massively underresearched and, consequently, a lot is unknown but the impact is no less harmful. We want to change that.
“We will support the young women to develop positive choices away from gangs.
“Often they can’t remove themselves from their gang network – they may be related or connected in other ways – so we want to introduce positive elements into their network to empower them.”
The three-year project will create gender-specific programmes across Greater Manchester, including football teams, female boxing clubs and theatre based on their experiences.
The team at MMU will work with 100 women in the region and help them achieve qualifications through learning opportunities.
Sociology researcher Dr Susan O’Shea added: “The issues these girls face are extremely complex and we hope to offer a suite of activities to support change in these.
“The idea is to create a legacy and provide a knock-on effect whereby other young women can learn and resist the temptation to become gang involved.”
Researchers from the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies at MMU and Manchester Active Voices are also working with other voluntary groups for the Getting Out for Good project, funded by the Comic Relief international programme from the Tampon Tax fund.