Rights of Incarcerated Girls

The ACLU has called upon the UN to introduce three provisions aimed at ending discrimination and violence against incarcerated young girls. According to the ACLU, “incarcerated girls are particularly vulnerable and subject to violence, abuse and neglect.”

This initiative builds upon a 2006 report conducted by the ACLU and Human Rights Watch which revealed abuses against girls in New York State juvenile facilities, most notably asserting that staff would “frequently restrain girls violently, seizing them from behind and pushing them to the floor, then pulling their arms up behind them to hold or handcuff.” This face-down restraint technique resulted in rugburns, cuts, bruises, concussions, and broken limbs. Further, this technique was not used only to restrain unruly girls, but “for such infractions as not making a bed properly or not raising one’s hand before speaking.”

We cannot assume that because these girls have landed themselves in detention that they are then capable of defending and taking care of themselves, or even more unfairly, that they in any way deserve to be mistreated. Their presence in the juvenile justice system is their punishment as well as their chance to be rehabilitated – any physical abuse beyond the steps recommended by law is only detrimental to their situation, as well as an obvious violation of their human rights. As one ex-inmate says, “Most people who want to be tough on crime don’t care what happens to inmates. But they should care, because 95 percent of all prisoners are eventually released back into society, indelibly marked by the violence they have seen or experienced.”

In all juvenile justice facilities, there is also an apparent disparity between the treatment of girls and boys. Incarcerated girls are far more likely to be victims of sexual abuse than their male counterparts – according to the Juvenile Offenders and Victims 2006 National report, girls constituted only 11% of the total incarcerated population, but 34% of substantiated sexual abuse cases.

Staff can also victimize girls in less apparent ways than outright assault, such as performing frequent unnecessary strip searches and body cavity examinations. In the New York facilities investigated in the ACLU/Human Rights Watch report, girls described being strip searched every time they returned from outside the facility, and anytime something “like a pencil or a knitting needle” went missing. International human rights law does not prohibit strip searches “when there is a legitimate security need to search for weapons or contraband that cannot be met through other means.” But even if a pencil or knitting needle could possibly qualify as “weapons or contraband,” surely there are ways to go about this that are less humiliating and degrading to young girls.

How can we help alleviate these situations? The troubling factor here is that this abuse and neglect takes place in near secrecy, within institutions isolated from society where the guards and officials often do not need to answer to anyone. There needs to be a third party present at all times, an independent supervisor who will monitor the treatment of detainees, ensure no unnecessary force is used, and advocate fair-minded policies.

While all prisoners’ human rights need to be protected, it is especially important to protect those of the world’s greatest resource: our children. Incarcerated youth have greater opportunities to be rehabilitated and released as productive and beneficial members of society than their older and less impressionable counterparts – but conversely, their drive to change may be easily broken by continued abuse, neglect, and violence which reinforces ideas of worthlessness and powerlessness. I believe it is imperative that this issue be addressed: with over one million children and adolescents in confinement worldwide, there must at least be provisions in place to protect these youth from unrighteous harm. If the UN body on Women’s Issues addresses the rights of incarcerated girls, it will be one more step towards implementing such necessary provisions.

Sources:

ACLU: “Top U.N. Body on Women’s Issues Must Address Rights of Incarcerated Girls, Says ACLU”
ACLU: “Custody and Control: Conditions of Confinement in New York’s Juvenile Prisons for Girls”
Physicians for Human Rights: “Unique Needs of Girls in the Juvenile Justice System”
New York Times: “In New York, a Report Details Abuse and Neglect at 2 State-Run Centers for Girls”