Gender responsive approach for girls in the juvenile justice system

Gender responsive approach for girls in the juvenile justice system represents an emerging trend in communities and courts throughout the United States, Australia and Latin America. Girls are the fastest growing demographic in the juvenile justice system and are placed in a system that was originally designed for their male counterparts.

A new approach to juvenile justice or juvenile delinquency for females is to factor in the idea that females have different experiences than boys. Girls who have negative childhood experiences such as neglect, physical or sexual abuse are at a greater risk to become delinquent (Violence in the Juvenile Justice system) Girls have higher rates of mental health issues such as anger, depression and suicidal thinking and victimization, violence and abuse than males. They also have different reaction in society to behaviors that they may be participating in. These factors exclusive to females make gender specific responses appropriate and needed. Girls are involved with the law primarily with what are described as status or minor offences. These types of offences include but are not limited to running away from home, shoplifting, family abuse, truancy, drug offenses and prostitution. Many of these behaviors are deemed to be survival behaviors meaning that they are behaviors used to survive abuse or neglectful situations. The typical girl offender is low risk and high needs

Human Trafficking is one of the causes of prostitution charges and is handled in gender specific courts as a victimization crime. In Texas the Supreme court ruled that girls younger than 14 years old involved in prostitution should be considered victims and provided services with out criminalization.

The Juvenile Justice and Prevention Act instructed states to assess their gender responsiveness in 2012. The goal is make sure that girls are not being detained and committed for crimes that would not result in similarly harsh treatment for boys. It was noted that there was an unconscious gender discrimination that occurs in the handling of girls and young woman in our justice system. Girls are now the fastest growing segment of Juvenile Justice population. Reasons for increases include a transformation of policy and practices. Family conflicts have now been recategorized as a violent offense and practices have changed in handling domestic violence. Misdemeanors are handled with gender bias manner and girls developmental issues are not clearly understood. The current Juvenile Justice System was formed in a manner intended to cater to predominately male offenders. Assessment tools used by most institutions were designed for this use. This explains why girls developmental issues are not considered when they enter the system. Research indicates a lack of programming for girls has been an ongoing issue for several decades. A review of delinquency prevention programs across the country found 433 identified programs out of the number 2% were designed for girls. This is why some are creating responses designed specifically for girls.

...
Wikipedia