Championing Justice for Youth Survivors

The Justice for Youth Survivors Initiative aims to transform the legal system by promoting trauma-informed and gender-responsive policies and practices that keep survivors safe and out of the legal system. We promote justice through education, resources, and advocacy.

We are co-led by the Center on Gender Justice & Opportunity at Georgetown Law and the National Black Women’s Justice Institute, with input and leadership by girls.

Who We Serve

Across the United States, survivors of gender-based violence are charged, tried, and sentenced by a legal system that fails to recognize the context of their actions or the factors of their age and development. Rather than receiving the services and support they deserve and need to heal, girls — especially girls of color — are criminalized and punished.

The Justice for Youth Survivors Initiative exists for girls and gender-expansive youth who have experienced abuse. We address the systemic failures in the legal system that often criminalize and inadequately support these survivors, focusing on promoting justice, equity, and a safe environment for their growth and dreams.

Our Work

In our commitment to end the unjust criminalization of girls, we pursue four key strategies:

  1. Research

  2. Trainings

  3. Policy

  4. Community Engagement

We uniquely disrupt the abuse-to-prison pipeline by combining legal expertise, victim advocacy, and youth-led participatory research to transform the treatment of girls and gender-expansive youth who have experienced abuse in the legal system.