Gang violence by girls on the
rise
They dress, fight and
commit crimes very much like male
GIRL gangs are making a comeback, with
an attitude and aggression that bear an unsettling resemblance to
boy gangs.
They dress like the boys, they fight like boys, even the crimes
they commit are what the boy gangs are notorious for: rioting,
robbing and extorting money, all offences which carry jail
sentences.
One of the five detectives interviewed for this report, offered
this snapshot of today's girl thugs: "In the past, girls broke the
law in such areas as unlawful assembly, fights over men, and in
staring incidents at public places such as discos.
"Now, they are doing what boy gangs do: breaking into cars to
steal, threatening people and demanding money from schoolmates and
neighbours."
Official figures show a disturbing rise in teenage girls
committing extortions, robberies and other crimes.
In the first six months of this year, girls were involved in: 16
robberies, up from five last year; 25 thefts, up from 21; 236
shoplifting cases, up from 188, and 15 extortion cases, up from 10.
In 1996, there were no reports of girls involved in extortion
cases.
A total of 310 girls were arrested in the first six months of
this year, compared with 273 in the first half of last year.
The detectives said that the pace picked up last September. They
now make two to three arrests a week. Before, one a week was about
average. Most of these girl gangsters are between 13 and 17 years
old, although the police have come across girls as young as 10.
Police officers have sometimes mistaken them for boys because of
their "short hair, men's shirt, trousers and Doc Martens
shoes".
And when they fight, it is with a vengeance.
"Before, the girls would scratch and pull each other's hair.
Now, they punch, kick and scratch their victims with sharp objects
such as small knives. In some cases, they attack with
stiletto-heeled shoes, leaving a bloody mess."
Compared with their forerunners, the Butterfly and Rose gangs of
the early Sixties, the gangs today give themselves "cutesy" names
like: Xiao Ding Dang (Little Doraemon, a Japanese cartoon
character) and Xiao Tian Tian (Little Candy, another Japanese
cartoon character).
They operate in gangs with between 15 and 20 members. Membership
comes easy too: Initiation rituals are not required. There's no
need to make offerings to Guan Kong (the Chinese God of War), for
example. They just wear the same shoes, coloured wrist bands or
sport similar tattoos.
Girl gangs often pick on neighbours or schoolmates.
Said a detective: "They would extort money from other girls,
after accusing them of staring or spreading rumours about
them."
Counsellors who have dealt with these girls say the lack of
parental control and attention is the main cause of this rising
tide of thuggery.
Most of the girls are from homes with a history of family abuse
or where the parents have marital problems.
Their parents tend to shrug off the misdeeds, and often ask the
police to let the girls off because "they're just kids", the
detectives said.
Even after the girls are convicted and sent to homes or placed
on probation, many parents refuse to see that their child is
developing into a full-fledged criminal.
Counsellor Lindy Ong, 35, who has set up a support group in a
church for parents with problem teens, said: "Some just leave their
kids with us and expect us to perform miracles. They don't even
turn up for counselling sessions."
In a research bulletin issued by the Subordinate Courts, a court
official said: "If the young person's undesirable values and
erroneous methods of solving her problems are not corrected early,
there will be dire consequences."
