Tag

Youth justice

In Virginia, a Victory for Youth

By Liz Seaton NCLR State Policy Director Yesterday, the Virginia Board of Juvenile Justice voted 5-1 to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in the juvenile correctional facilities over which it has broad oversight.  Eight percent of boys and 23 percent of girls in juvenile detention identify their sexuality as other than heterosexual, so this is an important step forward to protect their rights. This is the second time that the Board has voted this way over the advice of Virginia...

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In Need of Respect: Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Youth Face Serious Abuse in Group Care Facilities

Being a teenager in the juvenile justice system is challenging for any young person,  but as Cyryna can attest, being transgender adds an additional layer of fear. Cyryna, a transgender girl, experienced the dark reality that most people don’t talk about while being housed in a juvenile correction facility for boys, where she was the victim of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse by many of the boys she was housed with. Some of her abuse was witnessed by, and sometimes encouraged by, the...

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