The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline: The Girls' Story

"This report exposes the ways in which we criminalize girls - especially girls of color - who have been sexually and physically abused, and it offers policy recommendations to dismantle the abuse to prison pipeline. It illustrates the pipeline with examples, including the detention of girls who are victims of sex trafficking, girls who run away or become truant because of abuse they experience, and girls who cross into juvenile justice from the child welfare system. By illuminating both the problem and potential solutions, we hope to make the first step toward ending the cycle of victimization-to-imprisonment for marginalized girls" (p. 5). This report is comprised of two primary sections. Girls' Paths of Sexual Abuse into the Juvenile Justice System: the proportion of girls, especially girls of color, in the juvenile justice system in increasing; girls in the juvenile justice system are disproportionately victims of sexual violence; girls’ behavioral reaction to sexual abuse and trauma is criminalized, reinforcing the sexual abuse to prison pipeline; the juvenile justice system typically fails to address, and often exacerbates, trauma that caused girls to be there; lived experience of the sexual abuse to prison pipeline--victims of sex trafficking jailed as offenders; lived experience of the sexual abuse to prison pipeline-- detention of girls who are status offenders; and in focus--dual-system youth and the sexual abuse to prison pipeline. Child Welfare and the Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline Identifying and Treating Trauma in the Child Welfare System.