Katherine I. Puzone

Volume 27.2 (download PDF)

Abstract

A recent study entitled The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline: The Girls’ Story published by The Human Rights Center for Girls, the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality and the Ms. Foundation for Women highlighted the correlation between high rates of sexual abuse of girls and girls’ involvement in the juvenile justice system. Sexual abuse is one of the most accurate predictors of girls’ entry into the juvenile justice system. Girls under eighteen are at very high risk of becoming victims of sexual violence. One in four American girls will experience some sort of sexual violence before the age of eighteen. Fifteen percent of victims of sexual assault are under the age of twelve. Girls between the ages of sixteen and nineteen are four times more likely to be victims of sexual assault. Tragically, many of these victims end up as defendants in the juvenile justice system for behavior that is a direct result of the trauma they suffered. Victims of sexual abuse sometimes go on to commit sex offenses. This often requires registration as a sex offender which mandates registration for children as young as fourteen. This article proposes an exemption to registration for children who have been victims of sexual abuse. Recidivism rates for juvenile sex offenders are significantly lower than those for adult sex offenders. This is largely because children’s brains are still developing. Exempting victims of sexual abuse from registration as a sex offender is consistent with goals of therapeutic jurisprudence and would give young victims a chance to start their adult life without being labeled as a sex offender.

Katherine_I._Puzone_Combatting-the_Sexual_Abuse_to_Prison_Pipeline_CUNY_L._Rev._F._26