Apps such as Snapchat are being blamed for the rise in the number of young women committing crimes, however factors such as a lack of social services could also be a contributing factor.
The increase is also being shown in prison with the numbers rising, in September 2015 there were 585 women incarcerated but in September 2017, 800 female prisoners.
"They are using social media for their claim to fame, and the result of that is they are building a bit of a reputation for themselves," Social Worker Donovan Busby said.
A lack of social services for young women could also be to blame.
However on TVNZ1's Breakfast yesterday, JustSpeak’s Julia Whaipooti’s says "structural issues" are to blame for the rise, not social media.
"We have a really unaddressed structural issues around our growing prison population in the face of decreasing criminal offending."
"It's really clear to us that we need to be addressing the underlying structural issues within out justice system...we know when people enter the prison system the more likely they are to reenter and offend again."
Police Commissioner Mike Bush suggested that young women could look to entering the police force instead of participating in crime.
"I'd love for those young people who are thinking do I go left, or do I go right, go right to the police," Commissioner Bush said.
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