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| Human Rights 4 Girls |
By
Sikivu Hutchinson
Over the past several years, the
movement to end sexual violence has been mainstreamed through social media,
K-12 prevention programming and awareness campaigns. Terms like “victim-blaming”
and “slut-shaming” have entered the public lexicon, and the prosecution of
accused sexual predators such as Brock Turner and Bill Cosby have become cause
celébrès. Yet, when the media puts a spotlight on sexual violence victims they
are often young, white and middle class. And while it is estimated that one in five
women will experience sexual assault or rape, young black women face a
different kind of risk, informed by histories of institutional racism, violence
and economic inequality. According to a survey conducted by the
Black Women’s Blueprint, nearly 60% of young black women have experienced sexual assault
by the age of 18. In Los Angeles County, black girls also have the highest rates of domestic
sex trafficking victimization and are more likely to be arrested and jailed for
prostitution than non-black women and girls. In 2010, African American girls accounted for 92% of youth
arrested for prostitution in L.A. County.
These statistics reflect a long
history in which African American youth are disproportionately
criminalized for sex trafficking. Unlike their white counterparts, they are not
viewed as innocent child victims of sexual violence. This perception extends as
far back as the 1910 Mann Act, which identified sex trafficking as a form of
“white slavery”, and emphasized protecting the morality of white women and
white families. As legal scholar Cheryl Butler notes, “Policymakers have
ignored the connection between race and other root factors that push minority
and poor youth into America’s commercial sex trade.”
Senate Bill 1322, which
decriminalizes child prostitution, is partly designed to address this
disparity. Authored by State Senator Holly Mitchell, the bill takes effect this
month (coinciding with Human Trafficking Awareness month) and prohibits the
prosecution of minors for prostitution. The new policy is part of a larger
nationwide push to reduce juvenile
incarceration for prostitution by properly identifying trafficking
survivors as victims of rape and sexual assault. Last year, L.A. County joined the victim advocacy
organization Human Rights for Girls in its “No Such Thing as a
Child Prostitute” campaign. The initiative was designed to
decriminalize and de-stigmatize child sex trafficking victims by providing them
with legal, educational and social welfare services. While these efforts are an
important start, more work is needed to address the underlying cultural, racial
and socioeconomic factors that lead to the disproportionate victimization of
black girls.
Sexual violence against girls and
women of color is rarely the focus of national civil rights organizing. Shame,
moral stigma, racial disparities in policing, and sexist stereotypes about
black femininity often preclude attention to disproportionate sexual violence
in African American communities. Slave era notions of black women as “Jezebel”
breeders influence pornographic depictions of black women as expendable sex
objects in TV, film, rap music and videos. Popular social media platforms like
Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat provide young people with a constant stream of
sexualized images and messages, making them natural vehicles for sexual
predators who exploit the insecurities of girls of color in a culture that
prizes white beauty ideals.
It is estimated that the majority of child sex trafficking victims in L.A.
County come from foster care. At approximately 9% of the County’s population,
African American children represent a staggering 29% of foster
care youth.
The nexus of sexual abuse and
incarceration that ensnares child sex trafficking survivors has been characterized
by Human Rights for Girls as the “sexual abuse to prison pipeline”.
Here, exposure to “sexual abuse is one of the primary predictors of girls’
entry into the juvenile justice system.” African American girls in particular
are more likely than their non-black peers to be re-victimized by sexual abuse
in and trafficking through the foster care system.
In addition to having high rates of
foster care placement, black girls are especially vulnerable to this form of
pipelining because they have high rates of K-12
suspension, expulsion and incarceration. Although they are only 14% of the U.S.
population, African American girls comprise 33% of the female
juvenile population. At the K-12 level, racial disparities in discipline—rather
than higher offense rates—make black girls more likely to be suspended
and expelled than non-black girls. According to Monique Morris, president of
the National
Black Women’s Justice Institute, “the behaviors for which black
females routinely experience disciplinary response are [often] related to their
nonconformity with notions of white middle class femininity.”
The failure to identify and tailor
strategies that are culturally specific to black girls has exacerbated the
problem. For example, in February 2016, the Los Angeles Unified School Board
passed a resolution directing the
LAUSD to create a district-wide pilot program to address the commercial sexual
exploitation of children (CSEC) in its school-communities.Although well-intentioned, the
resolution did not identify culturally responsive prevention initiatives that
specifically addressed disproportionate rates of victimization of black girls
or LGBTQ youth of color, who represent a growing, yet “invisible” segment of CSEC victims.
Nor did it mandate funding for the proposed pilots. As a South Los Angeles
educator, I work daily with young black girls who silently cope with the trauma
of sexual and physical violence in their school communities. Inundated with
cultural messages that demean and marginalize them, many of my students have
grown up with the idea that violence against black women and girls is normal
and justifiable.
Targeted culturally responsive
training, outreach and youth leadership development that addresses not just the
victims and survivors of CSEC—but the educational, health and socioeconomic
factors that allow sex trafficking to thrive—are essential. School-communities
must make a long term investment in mentoring programs, health education and
restorative and social justice leadership initiatives that provide real
alternatives for foster care, homeless and LGBTQ youth in heavily impacted communities such as South Los
Angeles. It is only when we build a society that values and invests in the
social capital of youth of color, rather than more incarceration, jails and
policing, that the sexual abuse to prison pipeline can be dismantled.
