Interdisciplinary Analysis Describing Disparities in the Pathways into Incarceration for Lesbian, Bisexual, Questioning, Gender Nonconfirming and Transgender Girls Incarcerated for "Prostitution"

The OJJDP FY 2015 Studies Program on At-Risk or System-Involved Girls furthers the Department of Justice's mission by supporting discrete studies and/or secondary analyses of existing data to improve knowledge about girls at risk for contact with or involvement in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems.

Researchers at Impact Justice will be conducting Interdisciplinary Analysis Describing Disparities in the Pathways into Incarceration for Lesbian, Bisexual, Questioning, Gender Nonconforming and Transgender (LBQ/GNCT) Girls Incarcerated for “Prostitution.” The first component of the study will be secondary analysis of survey data collected from 4,044 California youth incarcerated in detention halls, ranches and camps across the state. The research team previously conducted this survey in county-managed facilities in all but two California counties. Analysis of variance will be conducted to verify whether straight and gender conforming girls have different rates of incarceration for “prostitution” charges compared with LBQ/GNCT girls. The researchers will identify the risk factors that are linked to incarceration for “prostitution.”

The second portion of the study will be a national scan of statutory, regulatory, and case law regarding: (1) commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and domestic minor sex trafficking; and (2) gender and sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression (SOGIE) equity for youth of color in juvenile justice and child welfare systems.

Final deliverables will be two published papers that promise to: (1) fill gaps in the empirical academic research on LBQ/GNCT youth in the juvenile justice system, particularly those incarcerated for “prostitution”; (2) contribute to the legal responses to trafficking and increasing equity for girls, girls of color, and LBQ/GNCT girls; (3) provide recommendations to the field of juvenile justice to improve the treatment and outcomes of trafficked youth at these intersections of gender and race; and (4) model the policy benefits of deep intersectional research for girls for state and county juvenile justice systems.

Note: This project contains a research and/or development component, as defined in applicable law. CA/NCF