BBC News
· collected 2026-09-09 · by Alessia Camoirano, Ben Milne, Mike Radford, Jamie Tahsin
Four women, including Christine and Annie, share their stories of being targeted by drug gangs as teenagers, with similar patterns of abuse reported. The women were manipulated into abusive relationships, subjected to extreme sexual exploitation, and assaulted, often using online platforms or in-person meetings. According to the BBC, authorities frequently failed to protect these victims and took their allegations seriously. Connie Muttock from the Centre for Young Lives notes that while sex grooming gangs are well-known, the issue of drug gangs exploiting girls is often overlooked, with girls being brought in to generate money and also subjected to sexual abuse by gang members.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
- Published
Warning: Contains details of sexual exploitation
"
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Warning → publish → exploitation
Christine was 13 when she began exchanging messages online with someone she believed was a teenage boy.
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she → begin → someone
On their first meeting, she discovered he was a grown man 10 years older than herself.
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he → discover → herself
He also told her he was involved with gangs and drugs.
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he → tell → gangs
"I always knew, OK, he's probably hurt someone, but in terms of hurting me, I didn't think it would get to that point," she says.
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she → know → point
Over the next few years, he would use Christine to courier drugs, subject her to extreme sexual exploitation, and assault her so violently she feared she might die.
uncertain
she → use → her
Christine is one of four women who have chosen to waive their anonymity and speak publicly to the BBC documentary, Britain's Forgotten Girls, about how they were targeted by criminals when they were children.
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they → choose → criminals
Their stories, covering 2002 to last year, differ in detail - but reveal strikingly similar patterns of abuse.
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stories → cover → abuse
All four describe being targeted by boys and older men connected to drug gangs, manipulated into abusive relationships, then repeatedly sexually exploited.
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four → describe → relationships
All believe the authorities failed to protect them and did not take their allegations seriously.
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authorities → believe → allegations
The sexual and criminal exploitation of girls by drug gangs has long been overshadowed in public discussion by the focus on sexual grooming gangs, according to front-line social workers and experts in the field.
"For grooming gangs, the primary purpose is often the sexual exploitation of those girls, but the primary purpose of a drug gang is to make money off selling drugs and other criminal activity," says Connie Muttock from the children's charity, Centre for Young Lives.
uncertain
Muttock → overshadow → Lives
Girls are brought in to generate money, says Muttock, but many are also sexually abused by gang members.
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many → bring → members
A recent government audit of group-based sexual abuse and exploitation in England and Wales, external said that authorities often fail these victims.
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authorities → base → victims
The BBC understands that the issue of drug gangs will be tackled in an independent inquiry set up in response to the audit.
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issue → understand → audit
Christine grew up in London, but moved to Coventry with her mother after her parents' divorce.
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Christine → grow → divorce
She says she felt disorientated and alone in her new home.
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she → say → home
"In school, everybody already had their friendship groups because of how late I'd moved in," she says.
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she → have → groups
"I didn't really feel like I had friends."
Then came the messages.
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messages → feel → friends
"We'd be texting through the night," she says.
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she → texte → night
Christine claimed to be 16 in her texts.
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Christine → claim → texts
When she eventually met the man, she admitted she was 13, but he told her that age did not matter.
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age → meet → her
"He was like, 'that doesn't change anything.
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that → change → anything
I still want to be with you.'
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I → want → you
And that's when we started, like, quote unquote, going out."
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we → start → ?
The thrill of feeling wanted was also what led Annie, from south-east London, into the clutches of a gang.
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what → feel → gang
At first, she says she "felt quite in awe, quite excited to have the attention" of three older boys who wanted to befriend her, even though she knew they were involved in drugs.
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they → say → drugs
For both Christine and Annie, what began as attention, affection or friendship gradually turned into coercion and exploitation.
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began → begin → coercion
One evening, Annie says, the boys got her drunk and then repeatedly raped her, photographing the abuse.
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her → say → abuse
They then threatened to share the photos if she did not agree to have "more sex, with more people".
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she → threaten → people
The abuse went on for years, she says.
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she → go → years
"They would just use me.
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They → use → me
Christine says the abuse escalated on her 14th birthday, when her boyfriend asked her to sleep with his friends to "help him out".
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boyfriend → say → him
"And I did it.
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I → do → it
I felt disgusting, but he made it out like it was something he really needed."
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he → feel → it
After that, "it became an expectation" that she would sleep with other men.
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she → become → men
The sexual and physical abuse continued for more than eight years, says Christine, as she was repeatedly raped by men connected to her boyfriend's drug gang.
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she → continue → gang
Rape, and the pimping out of girls, is common in the violent and hyper-masculine environment of drug gangs, says Muttock.
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Muttock → say → gangs
"As long as we've had drug gangs in [the UK] we have had girls being abused and coerced within them.
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girls → have → them
Holly, from Manchester, describes how she was not only abused sexually, but also exploited criminally.
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she → describe → Manchester
Recruited by a gang as a child, she sold drugs in the city centre, she says, and later delivered them to locations across the UK, as far away as Carlisle and London.
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she → recruit → Carlisle
…and 37 more, not listed.
