Councils must protect young runaways, says charity
A children’s charity is calling on the government to review youth services to prevent young people turning to gangs.
The Railway Children has highlighted that destitute runaway children are joining gangs for security and protection.
The charity found half of the male children interviewed in their study Off the Radar last year were gang members.They interviewed 103 children and young people across the UK.
Two-thirds of all the children had been victims of street violence and for more than one in ten domestic abuse was part of family life.
All of those who admitted to being a gang member told researchers they were trying to get out.
The charity wanted to bring the issue to the attention of the government during National Family Week, which finishes on Sunday.
Terina Keene, chief executive of Railway Children, said: ‘A child on the streets is at great risk of harm and being part of a gang provides a sense of family and protection where blood ties and formal structures have not.
‘Children often realise too late what they’ve got into or the level of violence they’re opening themselves up to.
‘Instead of stereotyping all children in gangs, society must offer them the right choices to escape from danger.’
The charity wants the government to undertake a national review of youth service to make clear the responsibilities of local authorities in protecting young people who run away from home.
One of the suggestions in its research Off the Radar was for more trained youth work professionals on the streets so they were more accessible to vulnerable children.
The study lists deprivation, family breakdown, the lack of positive role models, school exclusion and the need for protection on the streets among the many reasons young runaways seek the security they lack at home in gangs.
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