Published by The Imprint
Dozens of justice advocates rallied on the steps of the Los Angeles County headquarters this morning, calling on supervisors to prevent the incarceration of girls and young women, and to improve safety conditions at juvenile halls and detention camps.
The protest focused on recent allegations made against probation staff, who are accused in court documents of sexually abusing more than 70 girls in county facilities over a three-decade period.
Protesters at today’s rally — organized by youth leaders with the Young Women’s Freedom Center and the Youth Justice Coalition — chanted “Lift us up, don’t lock us down!”
Twenty-three-year-old organizer at Young Women’s Freedom Center, Carolyn Travis spoke to the assembled, who waved signs reading “Stop Sexually Abusing the Girls” and “Justicia y Libertad.”
“We stand here today in solidarity with the women and girls who are courageously opposing these systems and who have filed lawsuits against L.A. County,” Travis said. She described the victimization of dozens of incarcerated girls as part of a continuing culture of abuse that has harmed generations of vulnerable young people.