thewitchofwentworth:

The report calls this the “sexual abuse to prison pipeline,” and it
works like this: A girl may be sexually abused at a young age, leading
to unaddressed trauma or mental illness and spurring a reactive behavior
that can land her in juvenile detention. Once inside, her trauma
symptoms are triggered or she’s subject to new forms of abuse, leading
her to eventually be released not only untreated for prior trauma but
suffering even more. She then resorts to the trauma-coping behaviors
that landed her in jail in the first place, or she’s simply returned to
the original unsafe environment, whether it’s foster care or living with
an abusive relative. Once she acts out again in reaction, she’s
arrested again, and the cycle starts anew.

Worse, girls are being punished simply for being victims of sexual abuse. The Times reports
that some states allow girls as young as 13 to be arrested for
prostitution; they’re then funneled into the system and treated like
criminals, instead of what they really are: victims of abuse and sex
trafficking.

The Sickening Realities of the ‘Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline’