Study to probe how alcohol is leading teenage girls into crime

 
12 November 2013
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A major investigation into the links between alcohol and criminal offending by teenage girls is to be carried out by government watchdogs.

It follows concern that drink is fuelling female violence and sexual exploitation.

The inspectorates of prisons, probation, constabulary and schools will study the backgrounds of 10 to 17-year-old girls in custody or serving community sentences to assess the role alcohol played in leading them into crime.

The investigation, which will be carried out in Lambeth and five other local authorities across England and Wales, will also examine whether excessive drinking has exposed the girls to sexual abuse or other forms of exploitation.

The role of alcohol in violent teenage female offending will also be studied.

The unprecedented probe follows research by academics in Liverpool, published this year, showing a sharp rise in violent offending by girls.

It also reported that Britain is one of the few European countries where girls are more likely than boys to be admitted to hospital for excess drinking.

Announcing details of the investigation, Liz Calderbank, the chief inspector of probation, warned that a tendency to dismiss excessive consumption as simply a “rite of passage” meant the potentially damaging impact of drinking was being overlooked.

“There is a changing pattern of behaviour and offending that because it’s young women is not being picked up and treated with the seriousness that it deserves,” she said. “Some youth offending teams have a tendency to minimise the impact of drinking in young women and regard it as a rite of passage.”

Ms Calderbank said she was concerned alcohol made “young women vulnerable in a number of ways”.

She added: “There is sexual exploitation and girls being left very badly damaged by other behaviour that is inappropriate because of drinking alcohol in a group. There are also the health consequences.

“These are girls in the criminal justice system. There is a need to support them because they are vulnerable.”

As well as the probation inspectorate, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, Ofsted, the Chief Inspector of Prisons and equivalent Welsh organisations will take part in the study.

Girls in six areas — Lambeth, Brighton, Leeds, Sunderland, Swansea, Blackburn with Darwen — will be assessed before a report is published next year.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in