Girls as young as 11 targeted on 'sket lists' as gangs use sexual violence as weapon

Girls as young as 11 are being targeted for “revenge rapes” in an escalation of sexual violence between London’s rival gangs, a charity warned today.

Gang members are said to have drawn up lists of girls they consider to be legitimate rape targets and exploit low conviction rates to spread fear and settle scores.

The so-called “sket lists” (sket is offensive street slang for women) have, according to youth workers, led to incidents where girls are dragged off school buses and sexually assaulted.

Police and charities say they have recorded an increase in the use of sexual violence by gangs, including incidents where the sisters and girlfriends of rival gang members are targeted.

Claire Hubberstey, interim chief executive of Safer London Foundation, a charity working with young people to reduce crime, said: “Criminals know if they are caught carrying weapons they face a lengthy sentence. The use of sexual violence is the same sort of thing as having a dangerous dog.”

“They put the names of young women on a list and circulate it through their Blackberries.

“These women become active targets on the way home from school or wherever. They are legitimate targets to be raped and sexually assaulted if their name appears on a sket list.”

Scotland Yard has confirmed that sexual violence against women by gangs is now “at the top of our agenda” following initiatives that have seen gun crime fall by 17 per cent and knife crime offences by 11.5 per cent

Det Supt Tim Champion, of the Metropolitan police’s Operation Trident gang crime command, said: “The first thing we had to do is stop people killing each other. The focus now clearly is on women. It’s as prevalent as carrying a knife or a gun – raping a girl in a gang.”

Figures from the Safer London Foundation reveal that more than 500 young women were victims of gang-related sexual violence in the past year.

The Metropolitan police is mapping the problem to identify “hotspots” of abuse and establish the scale of the problem.