Violence Against Girls in Conflict with the Law

Girls make up a minority of children who come in contact with justice systems, but are vulnerable to violence, particularly sexual abuse and rape, by police as well as staff in detention facilities. Girls who live or work on the street are often easy targets for police violence because they are young, often poor, ignorant of their rights, and lacking responsible adults to look out for them. Once in detention, girls may be vulnerable to physical and sexual violence and humiliating treatment, particularly by male staff, and subjected to violent or harmful disciplinary measures. Because of their smaller numbers, girls are more likely than boys to be held in unsuitable and often dangerous conditions. A lack of adequate facilities for girls may result in placement in adult facilities; inadequate segregation from other, more dangerous detainees; detention at remote locations that limit contact with their family; or a lack of female staff to provide appropriate oversight. Since 2002, Human Rights Watch investigations of police violence and juvenile justice systems have documented abuses against girls in Brazil, Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Papua New Guinea, and the United States.