In one of the most chilling murder cases of recent years, two schoolgirls were sentenced to life imprisonment last week for the depraved killing of vulnerable victim Angela Wrightson.
During a shocking nine-hour attack that took place in December 2014, the two girls, aged just 13 and 14 at the time, tortured Angela, 39, in her living room, using a host of weapons including a wooden stick laced with screws, a TV set, coffee table and a shovel to inflict over 100 injuries.
Horrifyingly, the pair, from Hartlepool - who can’t be named for legal reasons - took selfies of themselves, including one where they smiled as their victim lay helpless in the background.
It’s the most extreme example of a worrying trend. In recent months a series of high-profile violent attacks carried out by young girls have emerged.
In March, a girl gang filmed their vicious assault, beating and stamping on victim Bethany Gallimore, 14, in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire, leaving her terrified to leave the house.
Disturbingly, the footage was uploaded on Facebook and shared more than 5,000 times and three teens have since been arrested.
Latest statistics reveal 200 women are convicted of violent crimes each week and Home Office figures reveal that over 160,000 teenage girls or women were arrested in 2013 and out of this, almost one in three were for violent attacks, compared to one in five a decade ago.
Celebs such as Vicky Pattison have also lashed out violently.
The former Geordie Shore star admitted injuring a model after hurling a stiletto whilst drunk on a night out and has since apologised, saying: "I'm not a vile monster. I'm just a normal girl who made an awful mistake."
Kim Murphy, 22, an account manager, knows only too well the violence that women can inflict.
She was viciously attacked in January 2014 on a night out in her hometown of Woodham Ferrers, Essex, by Lauren Field, then 25.
She says: “Before I was attacked I never imagined a girl could be capable of such horrific violence.
"Field attacked me for no reason. She didn’t know me, but she used a broken bottle to slash my face. I was left permanently scarred with my confidence in tatters.
"I had to change my job because I couldn’t face speaking to customers, and my career’s ruined.”
Read the rest of this story in Closer magazine out today.