Opinion
School Climate & Safety Opinion

The Sexual-Abuse-to-Prison Pipeline

By Gina Womack — October 13, 2015 5 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

If we truly believe that children are our future—all children—then it is imperative that we stop the cruel and unjust funneling of victims of abuse into incarceration, and improve the lives of sexually abused girls currently in our juvenile-justice system.

Recently, the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, and the Human Rights Project for Girls released a report, “The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline: The Girls’ Story,” with groundbreaking new data on this problem. Among the study’s many findings are data confirming that sexual abuse is a “primary predictor” for involvement with the juvenile-justice system, and that girls of color—particularly African-Americans, Native Americans, and Latinas—are disproportionately affected.

According to the report, “Native American girls are in residential placements at a rate of 179 per 100,000; African-American girls at a rate of 123 per 100,000; and Latinas at a rate of 47 per 100,000. By comparison, 37 per 100,000 of non-Hispanic white girls are confined.” The report also finds that the sexual-abuse rate of girls in the juvenile-justice system (31 percent) is more than four times higher than the rate for boys (7 percent).

BRIC ARCHIVE

A recent U.S. Department of Justice study shows that the increased arrest and incarceration of girls over the past 20 years has not been the result of increased criminal activity or violence. Instead, more and more girls are being arrested and incarcerated because of the aggressive enforcement of non-serious offenses, many of which stem from abuse and trauma. Gender stereotypes contribute to the problem, as the decision to arrest and detain girls in many of these situations is negatively influenced by whether the decisionmaker perceives girls to have violated gender norms—even though such deviation may actually be a response to trauma.

In fact, girls are ending up in the juvenile-justice system as a result of behaviors directly connected to their sexual abuse, such as running away, truancy, or substance abuse. Outrageously, girls who have been trafficked are often arrested for prostitution—even when they are too young to consent to sex when they enter the juvenile-justice system.

At the nonprofit organization I head, Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children, or FFLIC, we have seen the devastating impact of sexual abuse, including the alarming and shameful increased incarceration rates of girl survivors. This is not only cruel and unjust, it also fails to deal with the underlying trauma that results from sexual abuse. As a result, victims are further traumatized by the juvenile-justice system.

There are many parallels between the sexual-abuse-to-prison pipeline mentioned in the recent report and school-to-prison-pipeline issues. Rather than providing the care, counseling, and support these young people need, we are allowing vulnerable youths to be pushed out of schools and into the juvenile-justice system. We are failing at providing the safe and supportive environments young people need in our schools and communities, particularly for youths of color.

Girls are ending up in the juvenile-justice system as a result of behaviors directly connected to their sexual abuse, such as running away, truancy, or substance abuse.

Through an initiative called the Let Kids Be Kids Campaign, FFLIC is working to address Louisiana’s failure to care for our most vulnerable youths. We are raising awareness about laws in place that effectively criminalize children, and we are working to ensure that all children have the necessary support to grow, thrive, and reach their full potential.

For example, we are working to reduce the number of youths suspended from school for habitual absence, tardiness, or “willful disobedience"—a subjective categorization susceptible to racial bias that schools are often ill-equipped to deal with. Approximately 56 percent of African-American youths in the juvenile-justice system report a prior school suspension. Out-of-school suspensions cut classroom time for children who need it most, and research demonstrates a correlation between harsh discipline practices, dropouts, and incarceration. Students with multiple suspensions are three times more likely to drop out by 10th grade than students who have not been suspended. Our group urges educators to work to ensure that children who are in crisis or exhibit challenging behaviors are kept in school, where they are surrounded by sources of knowledge and opportunity.

Another approach we stress is “positive behavioral interventions and supports,” or PBIS, a rehabilitative practice focused on developing and nourishing support structures for students to help improve their lives, both in and out of the classroom, and strengthen positive behaviors. Rather than centering exclusively on reactive disciplinary approaches, PBIS uses modeling and positive reinforcement to foster a good learning environment for young people.

These restorative practices are based on an understanding that children are not problems; children have problems. If children are suffering from sexual abuse, that trauma can manifest itself in acting out. In fact, research has consistently linked problem behavior in girl offenders to abuse and a traumatizing home life. In such situations, children need support, rather than suspension followed by incarceration.

The “Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline” report includes the story of Sasha to illustrate how current school structures and dynamics can fail girls who are victims of trauma. Sasha was raped as a high school student. The details of her assault spread via social media and led to judgment and harassment from her peers. Sasha felt unsafe at school and became truant and dropped out. Two years later, with the support and assistance she received from an educational advocate, Sasha successfully returned to her education, attending an alternative school. But without this kind of help, her story could have ended very differently.

For more of these promising endings to terrible life stories, both educators and whole communities must implement rehabilitative practices like PBIS, and provide the care and support our children need. If we don’t act now, we may lose a generation of children of color and victims of abuse.

A version of this article appeared in the October 14, 2015 edition of Education Week as The Sexual-Abuse-to-Prison Pipeline

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School Climate & Safety A School Removed Bathroom Mirrors to Keep Students From Making TikToks. Will It Work?
The desperate strategy for keeping students in class illuminates the challenge schools face in competing with social media.
5 min read
Empty blue school bathroom showing the bathroom sinks without mirrors.
iStock/Getty
School Climate & Safety Researchers Analyzed Years of Reports to a School Safety Tipline. Here's What They Learned
More than a third of gun-related tips in one state outlined possible school attacks, a new analysis finds.
4 min read
Illustration of a cellphone with a red exclamation mark inside of a word bubble.
iStock/Getty
School Climate & Safety Could Panic Buttons Save Lives in a School Shooting? More Schools Think So
There's legislative momentum to require panic alarm systems in schools. But many districts are installing the systems without a mandate.
6 min read
Visitors walk past a makeshift memorial honoring those recently killed at Robb Elementary School, Tuesday, July 12, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas. A Texas lawmaker says surveillance video from the school hallway where police waited as a gunman opened fire in a fourth-grade classroom will be shown this weekend to residents of Uvalde.
Visitors walk past a makeshift memorial on July 12, 2022, honoring those killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in a May 2022 school shooting. Nearly a year after the Uvalde shooting, lawmakers in Texas passed a bill requiring that every public school classroom have a panic alarm system.
Eric Gay/AP
School Climate & Safety Opinion How to Strengthen the Safety and Security of Your School
Resources, guidance, and best practices can help leaders feel ready and empowered to improve their school’s safety and security.
Lindsay Burton & Michelle Kefford
6 min read
Illustration about warnings, with a businessman and woman each holding a with megaphone in front of a caution symbol.
Nuthawut Somsuk/iStock/Getty