Girls enticed into illicit drug trade with enticing offers of cosmetic enhancements such as botox, lip injections, and beauty products.
Young women and girls in the UK are being targeted by county lines gangs, who are using beauty treatments like botox and lip fillers as a means to lure them into the drug trade, according to a report by The Independent. These urban gangs are exploiting children, often transporting drugs, firearms, and weapons using vulnerable individuals such as young mothers or girls in economically precarious situations.
For context, county lines is a form of criminal exploitation where urban gangs convince, coerce, or force children and young people to store money or sell drugs on their behalf. Gangs are becoming more sophisticated in their methods of exploiting children, the St Giles Trust reported, with cases in the West Midlands where teenage girls have been offered nonsurgical treatments like lip fillers and beauty products to entice them into criminal activity. Mothers, on the other hand, have been manipulated into smuggling guns and drugs within their prams to avoid detection.
Jade Hibbert of St Giles Trust told The Independent that they have seen a shift towards more female children being exploited across the Midlands, with the use of botox, fake eyelashes, and fillers as grooming tools. Traditionally, grooming methods involved designer handbags or clothes, but perpetrators are now paying for treatments to lure vulnerable individuals.
The insidious nature of these operations makes them difficult to track, resulting in an unknown scale of the problem. Crime statistics primarily focus on offences committed by young men, leaving these young women as invisible victims. Johnny Bolderson, a senior service manager for Catch 22, which specializes in County Lines support and rescue, stated that the lack of confidence among authorities and police officers to identify county lines exploitation has resulted in vulnerable groups not being recognized as victims sooner.
According to research, county lines gangs predominantly target vulnerable young people—both males and females—to transport and sell drugs, often using coercion, manipulation, or threats. However, the explicit use of beauty treatments as a grooming tactic in West Midlands operations is not publicly documented in recent operations or case files. The risk of cosmetic grooming is recognized by anti-exploitation professionals, but its prevalence remains unconfirmed by large-scale case data or official statistics.
Crime statistics primarily focus on offences committed by young men, resulting in young women becoming invisible victims. The exploitation documented in recent cases and official reports more commonly involves threats, violence, financial inducements, and manipulation. The risk of cosmetic grooming exists and is monitored by safeguarding professionals, but specific data or cases are currently lacking in public domain sources.
- The St Giles Trust has reported a shift towards more female children being exploited across the Midlands, with urban gangs using beauty treatments like botox, fake eyelashes, and fillers as grooming tools, showcasing the evolving tactics in women's health and general news.
- Concurrently, mothers in precarious situations are being manipulated into smuggling guns and drugs within their prams, demonstrating the intersection between crime and justice and the complexity of women's health issues in health-and-wellness discussions.
