Women's Health in Juvenile Detention: How a System Designed for Boys Is Failing Girls

[LeftyMom]

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/11/womens-health-in-juvenile-detention-how-a-system-designed-for-boys-is-failing-girls/265668/

Incarcerated girls like Jessica are "one of the most vulnerable and unfortunately invisible populations in the country," and up to 90 percent have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, according to Catherine Pierce, a senior advisor at the federal government's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

The health statistics are particularly grim: 41 percent of girls in detention have signs of vaginal injury consistent with sexual assault, up to a third have been or are currently pregnant, eight percent have had positive skin tests for tuberculosis and 30 percent need glasses but do not have them, according to research from the National Girls Health and Justice Institute.

For many incarcerated girls, detention may be the only time they interact with the health care system. But the health care provided to children, and girls in particular, in juvenile detention is often ill-equipped to deal with their complex health needs.

A 2004 study in the journal Pediatrics found that fewer than half of facilities surveyed were compliant with recommended health screening and assessments, and few met even minimum levels of care.

"I don't think detention facilities really understand enough about [girls'] history of victimization," says Pierce. "We have a lot of work to do."