“…This study contributes to the growing literature on female gang involvement in Britain (e.g. Batchelor, 2009; Beckett et al, 2013; Deuchar et al, 2020; Firmin, 2011; Harding, 2014; Young, 2009; Young and Trickett, 2017) and the criminal exploitation of children and young people in ‘county lines’ drug sales (Harding, 2020; McLean et al, 2020; Spicer, 2021). In-depth interviews and focus groups with criminal justice and social service practitioners in London, England, revealed that an evolving county lines business model of drug distribution (Whittaker et al, 2018, 2020a) has facilitated the recruitment of girls and young women into gangs, exposing them to uniquely gendered risks of victimisation and ill treatment.…”