Stoneleigh Fellow Leslie Acoca authors an article featured in the 2015 book, Girls in Justice, about the unique health needs of girls who are involved in the juvenile justice system.
I was sitting in a sweltering California courtroom, serving as an expert witness on an adult case, when out of the corner of my eye I saw a tiny girl, fully shackled, walking down the courtroom aisle beside me. I was shocked to see what looked like a child barely five feet tall with heavy chains looped around her wrists, ankles, and belly. Yet what caused me to speak out was that the girl was eight and a half months pregnant, clearly afraid of stumbling and falling on her stomach as she shuffled past me.
