November 12, 2015

Focused on black girls, the forum is largely inspired by “Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced and Underprotected,” a report released by the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies at Columbia University and the African American Policy Forum. Authored by Kimberle Crenshaw, Jyoti Nanda and Priscilla Ocen, the report, based on a review of national data and on personal interviews with girls in selected regions of the country, is but one in a growing number of such reports, all describing a disturbing national trend: the percentage of girls in the U. S. juvenile justice system is rapidly on the rise. The excessive disciplinary measures they face in schools lead to escalating rates of violence, arrest, suspension and/or expulsion. Girls of color, in particular, face much harsher school discipline than their white peers. For example, Black girls are suspended six times more than their white peers (while black boys are only suspended three times more than white males).