It’s called Girls Court and it’s designed to provide resources and rehabilitation instead of prosecution for at-risk girls who have a history of prostitution.
“Girls Court brings an all hands on deck approach to the lives of vulnerable girls, linking them to social service agencies, providing informal Saturday sessions on everything from body image to legal jargon, and offering a team of adults in whom they can develop trust. And while still in its early years, the system is showing promise,” The New York Times reported.
Despite the success of such programs, in most states, including California, young prostitutes continue to be prosecuted as criminals, despite a growing consensus that minors involved in the sex trade are victims instead of criminals, the newspaper reported in January.
However, things are beginning to change.
In Alameda County, there is now a Girls Court designed to assist children who were recruited as prostitutes.
“The lives that unfold in Courtroom 401 in the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center contain few glimmers of gladness,” the Times reported.
One such case is Toni J, an effervescent 16-year-old who lives with 11 family members on a street riddled with violence and street gangs. Her father was murdered in a shooting, her mom overdosed and died. In ninth grade, Toni was raped while on probation for shoplifting. Having already appeared in court 38 times, Toni was picked up on a street known for sex trafficking in Oakland and got the break that changed her life, thanks to an unusual collaboration between the judicial and social service systems.
“Toni is now doing well at school and even mentoring other at-risk girls,” the Times reported.
“You’re stepping up to the plate,” Judge Rhonda Burgess said to Toni from the bench before recommending that she be taken off probation. Judge Burgess says she tries to understand the back story, the forces, often within their own families, that have made the young women feel diminished.
Many girls come to court unaware that they are being exploited. “Once they begin to see it, they see their own power and have a chance at fashioning their own destiny,” the judge added.
“The optimal strategies for helping these young people are still being developed, but training judges, lawyers and others to identify them is a first step,” says Dr. Ellen Wright Clayton, a professor of pediatrics and law at Vanderbilt University.
“What is really needed is a collaborative approach that directs people to services rather than prosecution,” Clayton stated.
In Alameda County, which includes Oakland, a survey last year of 113 sexually exploited youths by West Coast Children’s Clinic found that 75 percent of such youngsters here and in a neighboring county had experienced abuse and neglect.
Alameda County’s H.E.A.T. Watch Unit was designed to aggressively go after people who traffic in women. It was created by District Attorney Nancy O’Malley in 2006, and as of last year, 111 exploiters of children under 18 had been convicted.
“By coming together, working collaboratively and providing a comprehensive response, we will save lives and we will be more effective at preventing child sex trafficking from happening,” said O’Malley.