Young Latinas Behind Bars: An Alarming Trend we Must Reverse

OCTOBER 22, 2020

Gisele Castro on womensmediacenter.com

Mass incarceration is devastating African American and Latino communities, and this is by design. Systemic practices, from discrimination in employment, to ineffective school discipline policies, limit the options for the youth of these communities. These deep historical, structural, and systemic deficiencies, rooted in gender and race discrimination, over policing and the criminalization of poverty, are landing more young women behind bars.

Latinas and girls of color are being incarcerated at increasing rates. From 1997 through 2017, there was a 52% increase of Latinas, both girls and women, incarcerated nationally. Here’s why:

A lack of fundamental support for the trauma that many young women of color are experiencing may lead them to entering the system. Girls in the criminal justice system are often runaways and/or victims of physical or sexual abuse that has gone unaddressed. And unlike their male counterparts, who are typically detained over issues of public safety, adolescent girls are being arrested for violating societal expectations for their gender, such as reacting to conflicts by way of fighting.

Lack of employment opportunities for young Latinas also substantially increases their risk of exposure to the “justice” system. Research shows that the US has essentially pushed young people entirely out of the labor market. For 16, 17, and 18-year-olds, their employment rates have dropped to about half what they were a decade ago. For Latinas and young women of color, this problem is compounded because many of them need to work to contribute to their families’ expenses for essentials such as food and rent.

The onset of COVID19 has only exacerbated these problems. The multilayered crisis of COVID —including the shuttering of schools, community centers and other places of engagement and safety, and the collapse of the economy— have deeply impacted teenagers who come from underemployed or unemployed homes. This leaves many young women struggling to survive in neighborhoods that are patrolled by police the same way that officers patrol prison facilities. The harsh set of rules that these young women have to follow are being complicated further by the pandemic.

At the youth intervention nonprofit exalt, we have also witnessed this progression. In 2019, 36% of all our Latino/Latina/Latinx students were young women, compared to 19% female across all races. This is an increase of 50% from 2018, when 24% of our Latino/Latina/Latinx students were young women.

For a 16-year-old girl grappling with these heavy challenges and facing an indeterminate amount of time without the fullness of her freedom, this pressure is painful and demoralizing. When we first meet our young girls, too many of them express that they see themselves either dead or in jail.

“When we first meet our young girls, too many of them express that they see themselves either dead or in jail”

Gisele Castro, Executive Director of exalt

The age-old promise that education can be the great leveler, leading to a career that enables them to live comfortably and move upward economically – feels out of reach. But it’s not elusive if we ensure that young girls advance academically, while also providing them with options. We have evidence showing that investing in educational strategies reliably diverts vulnerable girls from the criminal justice system to professional careers pathways.

exalt’s proven model increases school engagement with 95% of alumni graduating high school, reduces recidivism to 5%, achieves a 76% sentence reduction rate, and matches 100% youth to internships into high growth sectors, like finance, technology, and health care.

This model consists of a four-and-a-half-month program of classroom education that includes works like The New Jim Crow, and workforce preparedness followed by a paid internship and alumni phase. We take this approach because these young women articulate that they lack support with real-life needs.

But we must also get to the root of this problem. This means disrupting and reversing centuries of racist policies of social control and trauma. It requires focusing on decarceration by introducing fairer sentencing, bail reform, and ensuring that our youth have the basic necessities to be contributing members of society.

“Should they secure a victory, a Biden-Harris administration must see and hear girls of color as equal and respected individuals who can identify solutions”

Gisele Castro

Should they secure a victory, a Biden-Harris administration must see and hear girls of color as equal and respected individuals who can identify solutions. Because those closest to the problem are typically in the best position to solve it.

The next administration in its first 100 days must expand on criminal justice reform by introducing fairer sentencing that eliminates barriers to employment and college access. It must also create more living wage jobs and aggressively invest in low income communities, like at the level the federal government did for the automotive bailout.

If this, as a matter of justice, is not moving, then consider the future of this nation: With the Latinx population growing rapidly, skewing younger and poised to become the tax base of many communities, it is to the benefit to invest at the front.