What are girls in the hood going through?

In Montreal, public safety is often addressed from the perspective of young men. However, in the Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles borough, voices that are heard too rarely are speaking up: those belonging to teenage girls. Last December, we met a group of young girls at a dialogue night in RDP–Pointe-aux-Trembles. What are they experiencing? What is their reality in the public space?

In the Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles borough, many teenage girls are growing up in a climate of constant insecurity: street harassment, social stigmatization, pressure from boys, sexual exploitation. Far from being exceptions, these experiences paint a bleak picture of the female condition in the public space.

Harassed from childhood

"I went to the police when I was 15 because of a pedophile who wanted to kidnap me. The policewoman almost laughed in my face," says Rachelle* in a trembling voice. The memory is still vivid. Through her testimony, a whole reality is unveiled: that of young girls who are confronted with harassment and are rarely believed when they dare to speak out.

Constant stares, inappropriate remarks, or hands that get too close—these actions that have accumulated since childhood end up creating a permanent climate of aggression. "Nine out of 10 women report being harassed on the street. And the younger they are, the more they are harassed," explains Mélusine Dumerchat, a doctoral student in sociology at the University of Quebec in Montreal.

However, this daily violence is most often kept silent.

In Canada, only 5 to 6 per cent of sexual assaults are reported to the police each year. The fear of retaliation, distrust of the police, or the belief that "it won't lead to anything" particularly stifles voices.

"What often happens is that we forget about the girls. Because they are more discreet," observes Kingslyne Toussaint, general director of the organization Équipe RDP. And when they dare to break the silence, they don't always find an attentive ear. "Young people often tell us that they are not really believed or heard when they report incidents of street harassment, when they try to file a complaint, or even when they confide in adults," adds Dumerchat.

This results in a feeling of abandonment. Between social indifference and a lack of institutional recognition, the victims' trust is broken, and their vulnerability increases.

Blaming young girls: “It’s as if public spaces aren't made for them”

"Be careful of how you dress," "Be home before dark," "Don't walk alone." These instructions, which are supposed to protect, sound like punishments. "From a very early age, girls learn that their presence in the public space is a risk to be managed," says sociologist Dumerchat.

The comparison with boys is striking. "At home, I was always told: 'What will people think if they see you outside?'" recounts one of the young girls present at the dialogue night. "It's as if the public space wasn't made for them," insists Dumerchat.

Beyond instructions from family members that already limit their presence outside, the young girls of Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles face another problem: the absence of places adapted for them. "There aren't many safe places for girls in the east end. You can feel that they would like to go to a shopping mall, to cafes... Unfortunately, it's really empty [in Montreal's east end]," says Toussaint.

Even community spaces don't seem to be designed for them. "They don't feel comfortable going to the organizations. At the youth center, for example, there would be too many boys, so the girls don't go there. Unfortunately, our activities also mostly bring together boys because we support a lot of marginalized youth, who are mostly boys," admits Toussaint.

“They get used”

In Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles, only one outreach worker, Aliza Ijaz, is officially dedicated to vulnerable girls or those at risk of sexual exploitation. According to her, this lack of resources has consequences. "There's nothing to do. And when there's nothing to do, you try to keep busy... but young people don't necessarily have the best ways to keep busy," she says.

To this is added a still underdeveloped public transportation network. "It's difficult to get to the city center. The bus system isn't super well-adapted, the schedules are spaced out," she recalls. In this context, the young girls sometimes depend on boys from the neighbourhood who already have a car.

"He has a car, that seems interesting. He's your age, you don't think there's anything wrong with it," describes Ijaz. But quickly, this relationship based on trust can shift: “This person will take you to other people, or maybe persuade you to go down a path you didn't expect: 'I have money, I have a car... and I can show you how to get some too.'”

This is often how a bond of trust is created—before that bond is exploited.

One of the first risks that girls are exposed to is the 'set-ups', which are schemes orchestrated by boys in their circle.

According to the outreach worker, the mechanism is often the same: "A trusted boy will say: 'I have a problem with this person; can you text them?' Since it goes better coming from a girl, he asks her to go see someone for him, then the guy goes straight to their place."

"The problem is that young girls, especially at 13 or 14, don't realize the consequences. They think it's harmless, almost like a joke... but a set-up can easily escalate into a serious assault, or even murder," the outreach worker warns.

"Unfortunately, even if we're talking about girls here, boys are always involved," Ijaz continues. "They use girls a lot in their conflicts. And sometimes, it leads them to crime, substance abuse, then sexual exploitation..."

For a teenage girl, it might seem harmless: 'He's my friend, he asked me to do it, so I'll do it,' she might tell herself. But very quickly, these things turn into increasingly risky "favours"... Presented as commonplace requests, they can quickly escalate into sexual exploitation. "It happens in small steps... The boy will first ask the girl to go spend the evening with another person. And then, it could go further... until the day you're told: 'If you sleep with him, you can help me erase a debt,'" explains Ijaz.

“What they’re sold is a dream, but behind it is exploitation”

However, entry into sexual exploitation is not only explained by the influence of boys, Ijaz points out. Economic struggle also contributes. "The lack of jobs is blatant in Pointe-aux-Trembles. As I said, there aren't many businesses. Young people have practically no options for working there," she stresses.

And for Toussaint, social media also amplifies this process. Some teenage girls see "glamorous" lifestyles there: luxury bags, big cars, nails and hair always impeccable. But if you don't have a stable job or financial autonomy, these ideals become unattainable. "What they're sold is a dream, but behind it is exploitation," Toussaint reminds us.

The numbers speak for themselves: in 2020, more than 2,200 sexual exploitation-related offenses were recorded in Quebec, a third of which involved minors. From 2019 to 2022, the number of reported cases doubled.

"Often, we're talking about girls aged 12 to 17, sometimes up to 25. They are still in school, they don't work. But on social media, you have to look the part: have the nails, the purse, the car... That costs money. So, they are tempted to find a quick option: commit small crimes, sell their bodies, answer the call of an older man," she explains.

Others find themselves involved in major offenses, knowing that the sentences they receive are often less severe than those of their male accomplices. According to Public Safety Canada's 2023 annual report on the correctional and conditional release system, teenage girls are much less likely to be sent behind bars than boys. In 2022-2023, only 2.9 per cent of them received a custodial sentence, compared to 8.2 per cent for boys.

"We are now seeing girls aged 15 to 22 directly involved in crimes like car theft. This is not perceived as armed violence, but it is part of it because these vehicles are often then used to commit crimes. Girls are recruited for these crimes because the sentences are less severe: community service, most of the time," says Toussaint. The same study confirms this trend: in 2021-2022, 3.8 per cent of sentenced teenage girls received this type of sentence, compared to 1.9 per cent for boys. And the gap persists the following year: 3.6 per cent for girls, compared to 2.6 per cent for boys.

Over time, some teenage girls become intermediaries between rival criminal groups, gaining the trust of both sides and unintentionally orchestrating violent confrontations. "They end up caught between two gangs. They know too much, they become visible, threatened. Even when they want to get out, they are afraid: people know their address, their family, their school," explains the general director of Équipe RDP.

Ijaz insists: "These girls live in fear and accumulate trauma. They are used, but because they don't die at the end of the story—unlike the boys involved in armed violence and organized crime—we don't take their situation seriously. We judge that it is 'simply' sexual exploitation. However, these wounds mark them for life. I consider it just as serious. But in the media, it's not perceived that way."

She also acknowledges that speaking out is not easy. "For a girl's story to be told, she often has to agree to testify publicly, there has to be an investigation, twists and turns. But going to the police after suffering abuse, even 'small' abuse, can already destroy you forever. And too often, it doesn't go any further," Ijaz says.

This is why prevention is essential. "We try to make them understand that there is no such thing as a 'small crime,'" Toussaint insists. "Every act strengthens the cycle and makes it harder to get out."

"It's not enough to promise to act, you really have to do it"

Today, the young girls we met want to "come forward." Gathered at our dialogue night, they testify, they want to occupy the public space and make what they are experiencing known. But they also know that the solutions lie with the decision-makers. "It's not enough to promise to act, you really have to do it," one of them insists. Normalizing these conversations, talking about them more, implementing adapted solutions: these are the first steps towards a society where girls can walk in public spaces without fear.

They also express the need for activities designed for them. "I feel more comfortable when there are more girls. I would like to do activities just with them, so I could open up," another says. Then, a third adds: "I feel safer with girls, for sure. We don't just want mixed activities, but also times reserved for girls, like henna..."

For Jessey Charles, an outreach worker at Équipe RDP, these spaces must go even further: "We need to think about activities that highlight girls, that strengthen their self-esteem. And also put them in contact with women who have succeeded in fields often associated with boys, such as politics, medicine, or science."

Ijaz concludes: "We need to listen to what girls have to say and go further to understand their reality. We need to keep pushing, without giving up, to expose what they're going through. Even a small step forward can make a difference. Tomorrow, the effects could be much bigger."