American Civil Liberties Union

There are currently more than 14,000 girls incarcerated in the United States, a number that has been rapidly increasing in recent decades. Most of these girls are arrested for minor, nonviolent offenses and probation violations. Locked up under the guise of rehabilitation, girls nationwide – the vast majority of whom have been sexually and/or physically abused – are subjected to punitive solitary confinement, routine strip searches, and other forms of abuse. Meanwhile, they are denied the mental health care, education, and social services they need. Far from helping girls cope with the trauma they have suffered, youth prisons re-traumatize them and further impede their rehabilitation.