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茄子直播 expert on the case of Cyntoia Brown: This U.S. woman needs support, not 51 years in prison

Photo of Cyntoia Brown and lawyers
The Tennessee Supreme Court sentenced Cyntoia Brown (centre) to 51 years in prison for shooting and killing Johnny Allen in 2004. This photo was taken at her clemency hearing on May 23 (photo by Lacy Atkins/The Tennessean via AP)

The that Cyntoia Brown must serve 51 years in prison for shooting and killing a man in 2004 when she was just 16.

News stories and social media have widely reported and shared Brown鈥檚 story. Many have compared her harsh sentence to lesser ones for white juveniles since the state of Tennessee first tried her case more than 10 years ago. The decision this week was the result of an appeal to her original sentence, submitted because it is now unconstitutional to sentence juveniles to life in prison.

Johnny Allen, 43, solicited sex in exchange for money from Brown, who was 16 at the time. Brown argues that she feared for her life and thought Allen was going to shoot her, . Despite these details, .

There is so much wrong about this story, which underlies the treatment of young, poor girls and women living in unstable situations.

A 2011 about Brown鈥檚 life and trial revealed the challenges she faced in her young life. The documentary shows Brown, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, hair pulled into ponytails, waiting to hear from a judge to see if she would be tried as a juvenile or adult.

Her mother was raped at age 16 by an older man and she was given up for adoption. Her adoptive father routinely inflicted physical abuse on her. At 15, she ran away and met a 23-year-old drug dealer, 鈥淜ut Throat,鈥 who raped her and forced her into sex work.

After a disagreement with him, she left and went to a local burger place. That is where she met Allen, who asked if she was looking for 鈥渁ction鈥 鈥 meaning was she selling sex? After bartering, they agreed on $150 for the 鈥渆xchange.鈥 They went to his home, ate, had sex and remained in his bed. Allen boasted about being a former soldier and said he had multiple guns in his home. He grabbed Brown and rolled over. She feared for her life, grabbed a gun and shot him.

Cyntoia Brown reacts during her hearing in Nashville in 2012 (photo by Jae S. Lee/The Tennessean via AP)

The recent ruling seems even harsher in light of the fact that the United States Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional to give juveniles mandatory . According to the Tennessee Supreme Court, Brown鈥檚 sentence falls within the parameters of the constitution because she is eligible for parole once she turns 67.

A cycle of incarceration

Brown鈥檚 story mirrors other marginalized young women of colour living in the United States. I have conducted fieldwork with 50 incarcerated Latinas, age 12-19, in Southern California and wrote a book about their lives: .

The girls and women I spoke with often experienced abuse in their homes. They ran away to escape the abuse. They spoke about being left no choice but to engage in high-risk behaviour, including shoplifting, hitchhiking or soliciting. They were vulnerable prey for older predators who began 鈥渞elationships鈥 with them, exchanging sex for access to clothes, food and shelter. Many like the ones I spoke with end up behind bars.

Tragically, the experience of marginalized girls in the U.S. and Canada are eerily similar. The tragic stories of Cyntoia Brown and a young Indigenous girl whose body was found in the Red River on Aug. 17, 2014, have parallel issues despite the roughly 2,000 kilometres between Nashville and Winnipeg where they lived.

A recent study by the found that approximately 66 per cent of incarcerated women in the United States are women of colour 鈥 and 86 per cent of them have experienced sexual violence, often at the hands of an intimate partner or caretaker. Additionally, 79 per cent of these women care for children. Almost all incarcerated women included in the Vera Institute study lived in poverty.

These findings are confirmed by other and research done with incarcerated women. What is staggering is that 82 per cent of women are incarcerated for non-violent offences like shoplifting or using drugs.

In short, inequality, a lack of essential services and supports geared toward women help contribute to tragedy for so many poor, young women.

Ironically, . If they run away and are caught by the police, they are arrested, incarcerated or often returned to the very home where they experienced abuse. If they fight back against the abuse of friends, family or boyfriends, they often face more mistreatment or end up behind bars.

Once incarcerated, they face a slew of interpersonal and institutional forms of abuse. For example, research shows that This includes having to fight other incarcerated individuals, experiencing violence at the hands of guards and being obligated to endure degrading strip searches. Additionally, there has been of corrections officers sexually abusing incarcerated women.

This puts young women in a difficult position and sheds light on the immense gap in services needed. Research indicates that

Researchers, politicians and leaders need to address the root issues that hurt poor, young women in jail. These issues include , abuse in the home, a lack of social services, inadequate education and the fact that many youth in the wealthiest countries like the U.S. and Canada still do not have access to , and reliable transportation.

As others have accurately pointed out on social media this week, white men and women who commit crimes in the U.S. are given lighter sentences compared to people of colour. , a 54-year-old accused of trafficking underage girls, received a 13-month prison term. raped an unconscious woman and was sentenced to six months in jail. Teen ran over and killed four people and injured several others while driving drunk and received no jail time.

In contrast, Brown鈥檚 life is effectively ruined. Tennessee law has since changed, prompted by Brown鈥檚 case. That means minors can no longer be sentenced to life in prison. But that law does not apply to Brown, who must wait until she is 67 before she can go before a parole board.

While her future seems bleak, Brown continues to receive public support. The #FreeCyntoiaBrown campaign circulates on social media and the and other survivors. The event is supposed to put pressure on outgoing Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam who can grant her clemency with a shorter sentence.

It is time we stop punishing young women for defending themselves and address the real issues that lead young women into precarious situations.The Conversation

 is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Toronto Mississauga.

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

 

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