A powerful film about gangs, domestic violence and weapon crime made by Barking and Dagenham teenage girls is being toured around community and youth groups in the borough.
The documentary was created by around 40 girls aged from 13 to 19 as part of a project at the Arc theatre in Abbey Road Barking called Girls Have Your Say.
It explores the girls’ views and experiences of gang involvement and wider issues and implications of gang culture and youth crime.
The hard hitting film, which has already been shown at an International Women’s Day event in London, began a tour around Barking and Dagenham on Monday.
It will be shown at seven community and youth groups, including Streetbase Youth Club at Sydney Russell Children’s Centre and the Vibe Youth Club in Dagenham.
One participant, Chelsea Salek, said: “The best part of the project for me was having a voice. It feels like young people, young girls like myself, don’t have a voice which we could express ourselves with and tell people how we feel about things within our society.”
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