Girls are busy overtaking boys as far as violence is concerned. In the southeast district of Amsterdam, “lovergirls” are on the advance: young women who gain control over other girls in order to force them to have sex with boys for money.

Deborah Chan a Hung of Spirit Amsterdam Southeast, an organisation for youth and educational support, has seen the behaviour of girls become increasingly tough.

“There’s a hardcore in the Bijlmer [the main residential development in southeast Amsterdam] that gets up to all sorts of things, from threatening behaviour, beating and kicking, to pimping on other girls.”

Recruitment
Lovergirls – the female equivalent of “loverboys”, a term used to describe young men who force their girlfriends into prostitution – recruit other street girls for sex with men. Ms Chan a Hung has supported the victims of lovergirls and sees a pattern.

"It begins with pretty things and handbags and calling someone 'best friend' and, before the girl knows what's happening, she's being put under pressure to have sex for money."

Another new development is the rise of a gang of lesbian girls in the streets around the Bijlmer for a year. Not long ago, it was just boys who preyed on girls but, nowadays, they are becoming the victims of other girls. "There’s a group of girls who consciously choose to behave hard and tough."

When asked if these street girls are even harder than the boys, Ms Chan a Hung has to think a bit. “Girls generally have more feelings and empathise more. But, if they turn their feelings off, they’re more ruthless than boys.”

It's hardly surprising that more and more young women are coming into contact with the police. This is backed up by a report on youth crime published by the Centre for Research and Documentation (WODC).

Coffeeshop
The fact that street girls are becoming harder can be seen from this girl’s story:

“We used to make a date after school. Then we'd go up town, to a coffeeshop [an outlet where small amounts of cannabis are allowed to be sold]. Smoking, drinking. We’d keep on laughing really loud. Until someone came and asked us to be quieter. Then we’d think: Just wait, we’ll get you. We’ll see you on the street one day, and then we’ll have you.”

Poverty
Ms Chan a Hung thinks the primary cause of this hardening of behaviour is poverty. Southeast Amsterdam has been badly hit by the credit crisis. “They sometimes just don’t have enough to eat,” she explains. Poverty plays a part in the fact that some parents, who know what their daughters are doing, turn a blind eye “because at least there is someone putting food on the table”.

Coming from a broken home and never having learned to talk about your problems comes a close second to explain the phenomenon. “And of course you have girls who need money to keep up with the latest fashions.” Is the hardening of girls just a problem in the big cities? Raoul White manager at Spirit in Amsterdam Southeast thinks not: “Street culture has become harder in small towns as well”.