'Birds and sluts': views on young women from boys in the gang [forthcoming]

The sexual abuse of young women by gang members in the UK is a subject of concern. The Coalition Government outlined its commitment to ending gang violence and as part of this overall enterprise pledged several million pounds to supporting initiatives aimed at young women at risk of sexual violence by male gang members (HO 2011). These initiatives were developed in response to reports that the sexual exploitation of young women had become 'normalised' within the gang context (see Firmin, 2010, 2011). This article examines possible reasons for the 'normalisation' of such abuse. Based on extracts from interviews with male gang members living in Birmingham, England, the author argues that understanding the version of masculinity enacted by the young men was crucial to explaining their negative attitudes towards young women. Indeed, it is only by encouraging a redefinition of masculinity based on providing young men with the tools and incentives to negotiate masculinity differently that we may see them rejecting the gang and with it, sexual abuse. Whilst suggestions are made for the development of policy initiatives to reduce sexual abuse of women by gang members these may also prove helpful in non-gang contexts.