This is an article Loren posted on her Fbk. She always shares the best shit! Hopefully on here one day, too *wink, nudge*
First of all...I initially used this photo and titled the entry "Locked Up Ladies" and decided not to because this isn't a funny topic. But laughing is good for you, so here:
Second, indulge me in a few "HOLY FUCK!"s
- 641THOUSAND girls a YEAR enter the system?! That seems like a lot, no?
- 41% have signs of vaginal injuries
- many only receive healthcare in jail? yet,
- many facilities aren't compliant with recommended minimum levels of care?! isn't that what our tax $$ go to?
Okay, thanks.
In Bernalillo, girls are only asked if they have been raped "in the past 5 days". That's a problem for me. Many people who are sexually assaulted take longer than 5 days to even process the event, and awhile to report it. Sexual assault, like many traumas, can be so incredibly disorienting to the victim, that it takes time for a person to fully realize what they experienced. And that's not even getting in to how long it can take to actually process, understand, and cope with the assault. Besides, law enforcement officials are often not trained properly to handle discussing such sensitive information, so you can imagine how scary it could be for someone to talk about the event. Oh man and can you even imagine how terrifying that might be for someone who is in jail?! I mean, they are in jail, so automatically they are stigmatized, judged, and viewed through a lens of preconceived notions. Who the fuck would believe them, much less help them? Tragic.
Back to the low quality health screenings - so people who have little access to healthcare outside of the pen are checked out in 15 minutes. That's absurd. And without any privacy. That's a violation of a plethora of legal and ethical regulations. But, who cares, they are criminals afterall.*
*sometimes i panic that my sarcastic tone doesn't translate well. i hope it does. i'll take more lessons from jezebel
Now I'm going to rag on one of the speakers a tiny bit. Acoca said, "These are girls with a history or rape and assault and their boundaries might not be well established," I just want to clarify that 1) just because a person was assaulted, does not mean his/her boundaries are poor; 2) girls are no more or less prone to boundary issues than boys; and 3) they have a history as a victim and as a result (*NOT A CAUSE), they are likely to be confused about trust, which could, understandably, lead to a change in boundaries. I guess I'm not really ragging on Acoca, I just wish she had chosen different words, or the author had allowed more explanation.
When the author keeps mentioning these girls rarely receive medical attention outside of the system, I can't help but wonder if there is a correlation between poor (medical) attention and high risk behaviors.*
Isn't it safe to assume that most of those entering a detention facility are depressed? I mean really. Whether the prisoner is good or bad, guilty or not-guilty, they still are probably pretty bummed they're in jail. Maybe the one thing we should assume about this population is that they are depressed. At the very least, a really horrible evil villain would be depressed that he got caught and can't do x,y, or z tomorrow.
[This is the kind of article I wish I could write comments directly over the line I'm referencing, like you can in Microsoft Word. Sorry if I'm hard to follow.]
Wow, imagine that; a male judge refers to female teens as "dramatic" and implies that they are more challenging than boys. Props to him for trying to help out a little bit, but wouldn't it be great if he saw how his language about this population is reflected back onto the people who work directly with them? Sigh.
Great article, thanks for bringing it to our attention, Lo. You're gonna change the world, babe, and I hope to help every step of the way.
- some resources: How To Support a Victim of Sexual Assualt Safe Place
~A
This is why the punitive way of looking at the justice system is so damaging. 41% have vaginal injuries? I personally doubt that there is psychological help available in the prison system. And if so, it is strained and not near what it needs to be.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me think about causality too. Are they having behavioral issues because of sexual assault?
Great points, Em! I too doubt there is enough mental health services in the system. And yes! It is likely that a lot of the behavior problems are a direct result of the abuse. There's probably a few of the chicken-or-egg dilemmas there, but no doubt sexual assault causes behavior problems (and would anyone really argue that behavior problems cause sexual assault??!)
ReplyDelete