Poorer girls more at risk for violence

CARDIFF, Wales, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- The risk of violence to teenage girls is three times more sensitive to poverty than it is for boys, researchers in Wales said.

Researchers at the Violence and Society Research Group at Cardiff University studied nearly 700 teens ages 11-17 in South Wales who experienced injuries from violence.

Jonathan Shepherd, director of the Violence and Society Research Group, said the researchers matched the patients against the levels of deprivation in their home neighborhoods.

The study, published in the Emergency Medical Journal, found assault injury rates were uniformly higher in the most deprived areas and overall, boys were more at risk of violence than girls, but the risk of injury increased more rapidly for girls than boys as poverty grew worse.

"The study clearly shows that poverty raises the risk of violence dramatically more for girls than boys. There's no reason to believe this will not apply to all former industrial areas in Britain, Shepherd said in a statement.

"The facts linking deprived neighborhoods to violence are complex and include social cohesion, substance abuse and family stress. It is not clear why the risk to girls should be so much more sensitive to deprivation but the reason may be linked to the different ways girls of different backgrounds resolve disputes."