An increasing number of girls are being identified as victims of county lines exploitation, figures have shown. Charities suggest ‘gendered understanding’ of crime means services often fail to recognise girls and young women as victims.

Data from Catch22, the charity that provides the national county lines support service, said girls and young women formed 22% of its caseload in 2025, up from 15% the previous year. The organisation is supporting the government in an attempted crackdown on the practice, as part of its county lines programme.

Catch22 said a “gendered understanding” of the problem meant services often fail to recognise girls and young women as victims. It said while about half of the boys referred to its county lines service received support from the National Referral Mechanism, a government project designed to help victims of modern slavery, this was the case for only about one in six girls.

Marike van Harskamp of Catch22 says girls face complex experiences in child criminal exploitation. A key way in which girls become victims of county lines is through so-called boyfriend model. “It’s similar to child sexual exploitation – being groomed into what they think is a relationship, then, being forced, without necessarily noticing, into criminal activity – transporting drugs and transporting money in the county lines model.”