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...... Furthermore, when women, particularly women of color do engage in violence, even minor acts of violence, they are even more harshly penalized than their male counterparts, and are often portrayed by the media as somehow more vicious, because they are transgressing the stereotype of how women should behave (Sheldon 2004:14). In this fashion, the construction of an artificial, passive femininity lays the foundation for the demonization of young girls of color (Sheldon 2004: 15). When girls engage in violence, they are not seen as products of a gang environment, but as somehow unnatural
Tragically, one of the reasons that girls commit status abuses like running away is not because they seek out sexual activity, but because they are the victims of sexual abuse. Girls are much more likely than boys to be the victims of child sexual abuse.70% of the victims of sexual abuse are female (Shelden 2004: 15). Girls who find their way into runaway shelters or juvenile detention facilities have often been sexually abused, yet their crime is more easily noted and marked by the law than their perpetrators. The fact that the juvenile justice system is supposed to rehabilitate young offenders becomes a double-edged sword for

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