Intersectionality and the experience of transition - Ebinehita Iyere
My experiences as both a practitioner and a researcher provide insight and understanding of the representational and structural barriers that affect young Black women and girls before and during transition through the justice system.
Through my practice I have been able to work directly with young people using holistic, relational and creative methods to support their needs in the community. This has also included working with multi-agency professionals across systems and decision making to ensure the voices of young people are heard. In supporting young people, I started to notice that the experience of Black girls was not spoken about as much as Black boys or White girls especially within education, youth justice, and youth violence.
Due to the lack of peer support services for Black girls I created Milk Honey Bees, a Black girl led expressive safe space that allows young women and girls flourish and take ownership of H.E.R (Healing, Empowerment and Resilience) through 1:1 sessions and creative group projects. Through this work, I have become familiar with the issues affecting Black girls such as their lack of understanding their identities, experiences in school, how they navigate the communities that are heightened by violence, experiences of domestic or sexual violence, and lack of support emotionally.
When exploring the criminal justice system, constant grouping of women under “BAME” creates further barriers to understanding disproportionate representation. This is also unhelpful in understanding the experiences of young Black women and girls as they are not a monolithic group, and their perspectives and intersections are important.
Intersectionality, coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw (1989), is a framework for understanding the ways that multiple aspects of identity intersect, influence one another, and compound to create unique experiences. The understanding and application of intersectionality allows us to understand different parts of the young woman’s experience for example with race, geographical location, culture, and sexual orientation. The application of intersectionality with the justice system as an approach necessitates a critical reflection on the impact of interconnected identities, which is crucial for understanding Black girls and young women’s individual experiences that may contribute to initial and frequent contact with the justice system and other systems.
One of the key barriers to the intersecting needs of Black girls and young women being centred by services is the manifestation of ‘adultification’ bias, whereby notions of innocence and vulnerability are not afforded to certain children due to racial prejudgement (Davis & Marsh, 2020). They are held to greater levels of responsibility due to being treated as though they are more mature, with their rights being diminished or overlooked. Research from the USA (Epstein, 2017) found that adultification contributed to Black girls and young women being overrepresented in the justice system. This was due to the perceptions of them amongst those in authoritative positions that they are less innocent, which influenced a greater use of force, harsher punishments, and decreased protection and support from services in comparison to White girls.
Adultification bias in the UK must be understood before application as it requires a real understanding of ‘unconscious bias’ that professionals may uphold, influencing the way services offer to support Black girls and young women across the justice system, further complicating the tough transition into adult services. Davis (2019) further describes how the result of adultification bias can be seen in a reduction or altering of professionals’ sense of their safeguarding responsibilities for young Black women and girls. This can have further damaging impacts on their mental health, as well as negative experiences and interactions with various professionals across many systems, including education, justice, health, and social care (Iyere, 2020).
Adopting intersectionality across the justice system should underpin policy and practice for young Black women and girls and help to work against adultification bias. It is crucial that Black girls and young women are not rushed into adulthood before and after transition through the justice system when turning 18 – professionals and services must be made aware of assumptions and personal bias that may be upheld (Davis & Marsh, 2020). There is a clear and increasing need for research that centres the needs and experiences of Black girls and young women as they transition across various systems and services, to develop a greater understanding of how to meet their needs.
Find out more about girls and young women’s transitions to the adult justice system in the Young Women’s Justice Project briefing Falling Through the Gaps.
Funded by Lloyds Bank Foundation and run in partnership by Agenda and the Alliance for Youth Justice (AYJ), the Young Women’s Justice Project provides a national platform to make the case for the needs of young women aged 17–25 in contact with the criminal justice system, including of the needs of girls transitioning into adult services as they turn 18.
We are keen to continue collaborating with others working in this space, with both lived and learned experience of the issues. If you work with girls and young women in contact with the criminal justice system and would like to get involved, please contact maggie@weareagenda.org.