Bullying among girls is on the increase and blighting the lives of a new generation of women, a new study has revealed.
The report by the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), whose patron is the Queen, claims that it is more prevalent among girls than among boys.
Now the leading charity is to put pressure on the Government to set up a working party to look at ways of tackling the effect of schoolgirl bullies.
Last night, North-East expert on bullying Dr Valerie Besag, from Jesmond, agreed with the findings, claiming girl-to-girl bullying was not only common but also very cruel.
"Girls' bullying is more subtle and more covert - instead of lashing out like a boy would, their bullying takes on the form of social exclusion," explains Dr Besag, whose paper on the subject Friendships and Conflicts is due out before Christmas.
"It's very cruel and is more emotional, taking on the form of gossiping, name calling or isolating someone from a friendship group.
"Unlike boys where the action is more opportunistic, girls' bullying is sustained and I think what we are just starting to realise is that to tackle bullying effectively we have to look not only at age but also gender." In a briefing report, entitled If Looks Could Kill: Young Women and Bullying, the YWCA says it believes bullying is a major underlying issue in girls' truanting and taking time off sick from school. It points to a study that found half of a random selection of 3,000 school-girls experienced bullying and said the problem was in danger of escalating out of control.
Mananda Hendessi, head of policy and campaigns at the women's welfare charity, said bullies themselves were also at risk of going on to lead damaged lives, of becoming involved in girl gangs, criminality, and drug and alcohol abuse.
She said: "Girls are now more involved in sustained bullying than boys and they have more fear of going to school. We have been finding that girls who are self-excluding from school or even taking a lot of time off sick have actually been bullied. These girls leave school with their self-esteem and confidence crushed."
Ms Hendessi said moves to tackle bullying and truancy were failing females, adding: "This is a huge problem that is going unnoticed."
Earlier this year, The Journal launched a campaign urging schoolchildren across the region to pledge to Be a Buddy not a Bully in an effort to raise awareness about the issue and help promote some of the good work going on in schools.
In just five months more than 30,000 children signed up to the pledge. Dr Besag, who supported the campaign, said that bullying in both sexes was about power.
"In boys this is displayed physically whereas in girls it is an emotional power trip; it's about who can appear the most popular, who has the most friends and who can pick and chose the friends they have," she explains.
"Girls use methods such as isolation, emailing, phone calls and text messaging to bully, all of which are very intrusive techniques that can cause a great deal of distress to the victim. I think it's true this is an issue we need to tackle."
Victims
Some of the high-profile cases in the North-East, where tragedy has been linked to schoolgirl bullying:
Danielle Goss (above), 15, Jarrow:
Found dead at her grandmother's flat two days into the millennium after accidentally overdosing on around 60 painkillers. She had called her mother in hysterics saying she was being taunted and abused by two older girls. She had also received death threats from boys. She wrote a note to her mother which said: "If I live I'm sorry. If I die I love you, I love you all, love Dani."
Joanne Geldart (above), 14, Ferryhill, County Durham:
Joanne launched her own campaign against bullying. Last year she wrote to the Prime Minister's wife, Cherie Blair, asking for a Children's Commissioner after suffering years of bullying at school because of her weight and a natural white streak in her blonde hair. Wales already has a commissioner but there are no plans to have a similar post in the rest of the UK. Joanne told The Journal: "I've been called names, beaten up, kicked and had my clothes torn."
Natalie Smith (above), 12, Gateshead:
Natalie was a victim of sustained bullying at the hands of two teenage girls who robbed her and raided her home. Natalie bravely faced her tormentors in court. Less than a month later she died after swallowing more than 100 of her grandmother's painkillers. An inquest later returned an open verdict on her death.
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