Children, Violence and Vulnerability 2025 Report

At the end of last year, our wonderful new Head of Partnerships and Development Antoinette Wood reflects on the Youth Endowment Fund's Children, Violence and Vulnerability 2025: Exploitation and Gangs report.

As the year draws to a close, I’ve been reflecting on what really matters in the work I do, and where I want to be putting my energy.

What’s already clear in my first couple of weeks at Abianda, is how closely our values align. A shared belief that young women and girls are too often misunderstood by systems. That harm is frequently hidden behind behaviour. And that responses rooted in care, curiosity and lived experience are far more powerful than those driven by punishment or labels.

I’ve had my head down during an incredibly thoughtful induction period, and I can honestly say, I’m in the right place. It already feels like home.

I’m stepping into my new role as Head of Partnerships & Development, focused on building new partnerships and scaling Abianda’s training programmes for professionals nationally. That feels especially important as we head into a new year, because the evidence is telling us something we can no longer ignore.

I’ve just finished reading the Youth Endowment Fund’s Children, Violence and Vulnerability 2025 report on exploitation and gangs, and it powerfully reinforces why gender-responsive, trauma-informed practice is so incredibly important.

One finding really stayed with me:

Girls make up a significant proportion of those criminally exploited, yet their experiences are often less visible, more hidden, and more easily missed by systems designed around male pathways into harm.

Too often, the models we rely on, across safeguarding, violence reduction, education, housing and justice, are built on male-default assumptions. Girls’ experiences of coercion, protection-seeking, fear and belonging don’t always fit those frameworks, so they slip through the gaps.

As part of my role, I’ll be working with partners across sectors to help ensure professionals have the tools, language and confidence to recognise exploitation early, without criminalising or overlooking young women and girls.

As we look ahead to 2026, I’m excited about the opportunity to scale are training, shift practice, and build partnerships that genuinely improve how systems respond to young women and girls. There’s real opportunity here for systems to do better, and I’m excited to be part of that work.

Bring on 2026!!!