MORE girls are being lured into triad gangs and their status within the gangs is rising, according to a survey released yesterday.
Social workers said the findings were alarming and called for a review of counselling methods as girls were usually more difficult to help than boys because their cases were more complicated.
The Caritas Aberdeen Outreach Social Work Team based its study on 400 cases handled last month.
It found triad gang membership was not limited to boys, although traditionally there was a perception 'it was only men's business'.
The study showed 76 per cent of the respondents admitted being triad gang members and they could name the dai los, or big brothers, they followed.
Of the girls surveyed, 59 per cent said they were triad members.
Violence was common: 67 per cent of boys and 61 per cent of girls said they had been involved in assaults - both one-to-one or in groups.