The number of girls has skyrocketed. Before they were invisible, because there were no programs in place. Eighty-percent of the girls in the juvenile system are victims of physical abuse, she said, and 70 percent are victims of sexual abuse. The girls are very much damaged before they come into the system. Being abused and neglected increases the chances of being arrested as a juvenile by 53 percent.
Violence begets violence.
When they get in trouble, Brown said, girls' detention tends to last five times longer than boys'. So many of these girls are not violent kids. . Gender-specific programs are crucial in their healthy transition to womanhood. Tears glistened in the eyes of several commission members who listened to their wrenching stories of being raised in foster care since they were little children, and in both cases, being sexually abused in foster care that was supposed to protect them. Victorero, whose father beat him since he was 2 and tried to lead him into a life of crime, said his saving grace was his Guardian ad Litem who helped him navigate the system and was there to listen to him no matter what.