Recommendations for researchers

Policy Recommendations — By on January 29, 2011 7:11 pm

The Taskforce has identified several areas for further research related to violence against girls and young women:

1. YOUNG WOMEN’S SEXUALITY

Researchers should design studies to learn about the complexity of young women’s sexuality and make these data readily available to practitioners, policymakers, and the general public.

2. ISSUES FACING LGBTQI YOUTH

Researchers should undertake studies using representative sampling of girls in order to learn more about same-sex sexual behaviors. Researchers and policymakers need to engage more with LGBTQI communities to better understand their needs.

3. MORE RESEARCH ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ILLINOIS GIRLS WHO ARE DETAINED AND/OR INCARCERATED IN VARIOUS FACILITIES.

What do we know empirically about girls’ treatment while in custody? Researchers have suggested that standard procedures such as body searches, restraints, and isolation can lead to re-triggering for trauma survivors and therefore have a disproportionate impact on girls who are more likely to have a legacy of abuse and trauma. How do these issues play out for girls in Illinois and Chicago?

4. IDENTIFY BEST PRACTICES FOR INTERVENTIONS WITH YOUNG WOMEN IN CUSTODY

The lack of identified best practices is a national problem brought to light by the Girls Study Group that has been tasked by the Federal government with researching issues related to girl’s delinquency. What does it mean to provide gender-responsive programming in practice in juvenile justice systems? We need to learn the answers.

5. IDENTIFY THE ASSETS & RESILIENCE OF YOUNG WOMEN IN CUSTODY

How are these deployed in the lives of young people in trouble with the law? More research, and in particular youth-led research, is needed.