When Protection Depends on Race All children deserve to feel safe. But the reality in America—and many places across the globe—is that Black children
When Protection Depends on Race
All children deserve to feel safe. But the reality in America—and many places across the globe—is that Black children are often treated as problems to be punished, not people to be protected.
This is especially true for Black girls, whose pain, fear, and trauma are too often ignored, criminalized, or blamed on them.
💔 Black children make up 15% of U.S. children—but 35% of those suspended or expelled from school.
💔 Black girls are six times more likely than white girls to be suspended, and more likely to be arrested for defending themselves after abuse.
💔 Many Black girls in juvenile detention were victims before they were ever labeled offenders.
This isn’t about “bad kids.”
This is about systems that refuse to see Black children as children.
👧🏿 The Abuse-to-Prison Pipeline for Girls
While many have heard of the school-to-prison pipeline, fewer understand the abuse-to-prison pipeline—especially for girls.
Here’s how it works:
A girl is sexually or physically abused (often in silence).
She begins to show “behavioral issues”: skipping school, running away, fighting back.
Instead of trauma-informed care, she’s labeled “defiant,” “promiscuous,” or “dangerous.”
She’s sent to detention, juvenile court, or foster care.
Her trauma is ignored—and now she has a record.
This is not justice.
This is punishment for surviving.
✋🏽 Why Black Girls Are Especially Targeted
Black girls are routinely stripped of the protections offered to white children. They’re viewed as “older,” “more sexual,” and “less innocent”—even as young as 5 years old.
This is called adultification bias.
It leads to:
Over-surveillance in schools
Harsher punishments for the same behaviors
Dismissal when they report abuse
Incarceration for acts of survival
Black girls are often criminalized for defending themselves, protecting siblings, or even just existing in trauma responses—like shutting down, speaking up, or lashing out in fear.
🧠 What We Know About Trauma and “Behavior”
Children who’ve been hurt don’t always know how to say, “I’m in pain.”
They might:
Disobey
Self-harm
Run away
Lash out
Appear “numb”
These are survival strategies—not moral failures.
Yet instead of trauma-informed responses, Black children—especially girls—receive punishment instead of protection.
🛡️ What Must Change
1. Recognize the Pipeline
We must stop treating survival responses as criminal behavior.
We must name the pattern: abuse ➡️ blame ➡️ punishment.
2. Believe Black Girls the First Time
When Black girls report abuse, believe them. Listen. Act. Protect them without conditions.
3. Interrupt Adultification Bias
Treat all children as children. Full stop. Don’t assign adult motives or language to Black girls’ actions or bodies.
4. Push for Trauma-Informed Schools
Train every educator, counselor, and SRO (school resource officer) to recognize trauma—not just enforce punishment.
5. Fund Healing, Not Harm
Invest in community-based services, mental health resources, and restorative practices—not more policing and detention beds.
🌱 For Parents, Educators & Advocates: What You Can Say
Speak directly into the lives of children—especially Black girls—who are navigating trauma and being blamed for it.
Say:
“You should not have had to go through that.”
“That was not your fault.”
“You’re not bad. You were surviving.”
“You deserve love, safety, and freedom.”
“I will walk with you until you feel whole again.”
These are not small words. They can reroute an entire life.
🗣️ Your Voice Can Break This Cycle
The abuse-to-prison pipeline will not be dismantled by silence.
It will take courageous adults, truth-telling, and radical protection.
Our children are not disposable.
Their pain is not shameful.
And their healing is possible—when they are seen, loved, and defended.
📍 rosaschildren.com | Because no child should be punished for surviving.