In this first part they discuss some recent finds on violence among young girls:
This is the reality behind a Home Office report this week which revealed that crimes committed by girls as young as ten have soared by 25 per cent in three years.
That is a disturbing trend. But should we really be shocked by this when the media depicts more and more women as being violent and that being a good thing? The article comments briefly on this:
What's clear is that there has been a dramatic coarsening in the behaviour of an entire underclass of young women - driven partly by the destruction of the nuclear family and the lack of a strong father figure, but also by a celebrity culture in which female so-called "stars" - famous only for appearing on Big Brother or its equivalents - are photographed blind drunk and fighting in the gutter with other women outside nightclubs.
The article has some examples of the violence they are talking about and here is one:
It was 8pm on a sunny April evening when Wendy Clarke, a 47-year-old mother from the Birmingham suburbs, got caught up in this nightmare world. She had just locked up her tanning salon when she spotted a group of about 20 girls congregating near a bus shelter.
Four of the gang - although she didn't know they were a gang at the time - were sitting near an elderly man on a bench. "They began taunting him," says Wendy.
"Grandad", they called him. One of the girls then opened his jacket and started rummaging through his pockets.
"Soon they were all over him like a pack of animals and I knew I had to do something."
She strode over to the group and told them to "back off and leave him alone".
Almost before the words had left her mouth, one of the girls yanked her by the hair and punched her in the face. Two others jumped on her back.
Three more joined in and jumped on Wendy's head when she fell to the ground.
"One minute I was telling them to leave the man alone and the next I was on the floor," she says.
"During the attack I was aware of more and more girls joining in. I tried my best to defend myself, but it was useless. I was completely and utterly helpless.
"All the time they were shouting abuse and baying like savages. It was absolutely terrifying and I thought it would never end."
Wendy might not have got out alive if a couple hadn't pulled up in their car and run over to help when they realised what was happening, causing Wendy's attackers to flee.
It would be mistake to think this was a spontaneous, random attack. True, the girls did not know who their victim was going to be, but they knew they were going to get someone.
They were wearing several layers of clothing so they could change their appearance quickly. Unfortunately for them, someone followed them to a nearby McDonald's and dialled 999. The girls were in the process of "undressing" when officers arrived.
Ten girls, aged between 14 and 17, were later arrested and bailed in connection with the attack on Wendy.
Her injuries were so severe that doctors couldn't be certain whether her nose had been broken until the swelling had gone down.
"My boyfriend didn't recognise me when he saw me," she said.
"I have a 15-year-old daughter and the difference between her and "them'' is difficult to comprehend."
And here is an example of girls sexually assaulting someone:
Consider, too, the harrowing experience of an 18-year-old youth, whom we shall call Ben, who agreed to meet us in a park in Woolwich, South-East London this week.
Ben went to live with foster parents following a deeply troubled upbringing (his father committed suicide) which has left him with severe emotional problems.
He is also partially disabled after injuring his legs in a motorbike accident.
All in all, it would be difficult to find a more vulnerable teenager.
Ben, who is slightly built, was walking down the street, near the spot where he is now standing, one day last year when he was ambushed by a gang of five girls.
The girls supplied cannabis to Ben's cousin. When his cousin left a drug debt unpaid, they took revenge on Ben instead.
The group, aged 15 and 16, dragged him into a nearby flat where they stripped him, repeatedly beat him with a broken broom handle, and made him perform sex acts.
They filmed his three-and-a-half hour ordeal on a mobile phone.
"I did not fight back because they were at least five of them and they were stronger than me. I pleaded with them to stop but they wouldn't. I just covered my face."
Initially, Ben was too embarrassed to go to the police. "They were girls, after all," he said.
Had his sister not eventually persuaded him to inform the authorities, his story would have been difficult to believe. He gave evidence against the gang via video link because he was too embarrassed to face them in court.
The girls were convicted for false imprisonment, assault, and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. They were jailed for a total of nine years at Inner London Crown Court.
The judge called the attack "sadistic" and "disgraceful".
The background of the girls, who again cannot be identified, provides chilling insight into the culture of female violence and girl gangs.
One had a previous conviction for assault. When she was just 13 she punched another girl in the face, fracturing her cheekbone, leaving her needing a metal plate.
She was skilled in martial arts and her CV included robbery and threatening and abusive behaviour. Two of her accomplices also had previous convictions for crimes including robbery, assault, and drug offences.
These are the kind of nihilistic, violent crimes, of course, that we used to associate with men not women, boys not girls.
The truth is there is little difference any more - which is perhaps the most shocking indictment of all.
And Ben's phrase "they were girls after all" sums up so much with so few words. Go ask a fifth grade boy if he was beat up by a girl and no one saw it would he tell anyone? Odds are the answer will be no and when asked why you will get a response similar to what Ben gave.
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