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March 9th, 2016 
Awake Goy One of the starkest statistics in the lives of girls today is that 73 percent of girls in the juvenile justice system have been physically or sexually abused, according to U.S. Bureau of Justice figures.
A report last summer referred to this as the “sexual-abuse-to-prison pipeline.”
Experiencing abuse is one of the major predictors of girls themselves getting into trouble, according to the report published by the Human Rights Project for Girls, the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, and the Ms. Foundation for Women.
The most common crimes for which girls are arrested — including running away, substance abuse and truancy — are also the most common symptoms of abuse, the report noted.
“Girls are pretty invisible” in current efforts to reform the juvenile justice system, said Stephanie Covington, a psychologist who provides training and consulting services to criminal justice agencies through the La Jolla, California-based Center for Gender and Justice.
“People don’t talk about the girls,” she said.
Most people are really surprised to learn that the proportion of girls in the juvenile justice population is increasing, Covington said. They are surprised at the level of abuse girls have suffered and the prevalence of trafficking.
Organizations that work with girls — from community organizations to juvenile justice agencies — need to respond to the conditions of girls’ lives, Covington said.
They need to recognize and work with the trauma that underlies the behavior of many girls, and they should take an approach tailored to girls’ needs, she said.
Girls who are harmed by sexual violence but who have economic stability, adequate schools, safe neighborhoods and access to mental health services tend to be buffered from further harm, according to a Crittenton Foundation report released last October.
“For girls at the margin, the experience of sexual violence often funnels them into the juvenile justice system,” the foundation’s report said.
Each year, 578,000 girls are arrested, according to the foundation.
From acting out to helping out
In the seventh grade, Regina (not her real name) began getting in trouble in her Broward County, Florida, middle school. She began cutting classes. She quit doing schoolwork. She also got into fights.
“I was being violent,” she said.
After one fight with another girl, she was arrested and had to appear in juvenile court.
She was sentenced to a nine-month community-service diversion program.
But when she went back to school in the eighth grade, not enough had changed.
She then entered the day program at PACE Center for Girls, a Florida nonprofit that offers schooling, counseling and life skills training.
PACE, which stands for Practical Academic Cultural Education, takes a gender-responsive and trauma-informed approach, emphasizing healthy relationships, good decision-making and communication skills. It also engages each girl’s family in an effort to support motherdaughter relationships.
The program focuses on self-respect, selfconfidence and issues of sexuality.
“The actual environment is different,” Regina said. The classes are smaller and the teachers are nicer, she said.
In a big high school they wouldn’t even know your name, Regina said.
“Here they actually care about you,” she said.
At PACE, Regina learned to trust people again, and she delved into the issues that underlay her aggressive behavior in school.
“My counselor helps me with my selfesteem,” she said.
Not only did Regina re-engage in school, she came to care about the other girls and the adults at PACE. And she developed a career goal.
She’s interested in forensic science and wants to run her own business helping adults and kids who have been traumatized by sexual abuse.
“I want to help them find justice,” she said.
Source Article from https://uprootedpalestinians.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/usa-bureau-of-justice-73-of-girls-in-the-juvenile-justice-system-have-been-physically-or-sexually-abused/
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