Netflix’s hit show, Adolescence, recently raised the profile of a wide range of issues and challenges facing young people, from knife crime and exploitation to violence against women and girls alongside how the criminal justice system interacts with children.
But these issues aren’t new.
St Giles has been working with young people in schools and communities across the UK for over 15 years. Our trained staff offers group and 1-1 support around prevention and intervention.
Violence and Exploitation
The risks of violence and exploitation can be misunderstood by young people and adults. This is why St Giles’ trained facilitators work in school and professional settings to deliver talks or assemblies on the risks and spotting the signs of exploitation.
By using their lived experience of knife crime and exploitation, coupled with professional skills and training, our mentors and facilitators work with young people, outlining the risks around involvement and the red flags to look out for. They work with children as young as 9 years old all the way up to young adults to help provide safe ways to exit exploitative and potentially violent situations.
This starts with understanding the signs of exploitation and moves on to knowing the risks and then how to exit or move away.
Knife Crime
At St Giles, we recognise that knife crime disproportionately impacts young people, particularly in urban areas. The causes are complex, including social inequality, lack of opportunities, fear, and criminal exploitation.
We provide awareness-raising and intervention sessions in schools through assemblies and group/1-1 mentoring. Our professionally trained staff draw on their lived experience to show the reality of gang involvement and exploitation.
St Giles is at the forefront of tackling youth violence with a proven track record of prevention, intervention, and long-term support for young people at risk.
Violence Against Women and Girls
St Giles has worked with women and girls since we started our work with children and young people in 2006. We have noticed that in recent years, a growing concern has been the violence toward and exploitation of women and young girls, including through county lines. In response to this, St Giles’ trained mentors have been delivering sessions in groups and 1 on 1 to both young women to be aware of the signs of exploitation but also to young boys to spot the signs of violence and extreme misogyny’s role in this violence.
The involvement of girls and young women in county lines is still poorly understood and often overlooked. As a result, girls are flying under the radar and being put at serious risks. Young women and girls are often seen as less likely to draw the attention of the authorities than boys and so are considered more likely to evade detection. For example, a young woman pushing a pram – regardless of whether it has a child in it or not – is less likely to be stopped by the police.
Ultimately, these are issues for all of us and it is not just down to children and young people to change. Cuts to essential services have had a negative impact on young people – particularly ones from disadvantaged backgrounds – so it is essential for us to redouble our efforts to really listen to young people and give them the support and care they deserve.