Addressing gender-based violence is a matter of not just gender equality but of racial justice, as girls of color in the U.S. are often criminalized for their victimization. Historically, efforts to address mass incarceration have left women and girls of color behind. This interactive workshop will discuss findings from the Abuse to Prison Pipeline report and recent developments in the US justice reform movement to examine 1) the intersection between abuse and criminalization for women and girls of color 2) the importance of reforming laws to decriminalize and better support survivors and 3) promising legislative responses to dismantle the pipeline.
This session was curated in partnership with Rights 4 Girls.
Yasmin Vafa is co-founder and Executive Director of Rights4Girls, a human rights organization dedicated to defending the rights of vulnerable young women and girls in the U.S. As a human rights attorney and advocate, Yasmin’s work focuses on the intersections of race, gender, violence, and the law. She speaks widely on these issues and how they impact the lives of marginalized women and girls. Yasmin has successfully advocated for several laws, testified before the U.S. Senate and international human rights bodies, and been recognized for her advocacy by the United States Congress. She is co-author of several reports examining girls in the U.S. legal system, including the acclaimed, The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline: The Girls' Story, which exposed the widespread criminalization of girls of color in the U.S. as a direct result of their victimization. The report has not only shaped the national conversation around women and girls’ incarceration, but helped ignite a movement to decriminalize survivors of gender-based violence.
Youth Outreach Coordinator, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
Melanie Thompson is the Youth Outreach Coordinator at the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women and is separately a speaker, activist, and leader in the global fight to end prostitution and commercial sexual exploitation. Trafficked and sold into prostitution in New York at the age of 12, she was later arrested and placed into foster care. She became an activist at age 14. Ms. Thompson has testified before numerous legislatures about the need to pass strong anti-trafficking laws and ending the arrests of sex trafficked and prostituted children and people in the sex trade. She is a student at the City University of New York and plans to open a non-profit organization to assist victims of trafficking and foster care.
Maheen Kaleem, Esq. is a human rights lawyer who has dedicated her life to creating a world where girls of color are safe and free. She is the Deputy Director at Grantmakers for Girls of Color, a philanthropic organization dedicated to amplifying and mobilizing resource to supportive transformative organizing work led by girls and gender-expansive youth of color. She has nearly twenty years of experience supporting youth and families impacted by interpersonal and state violence to lead efforts to advance racial and gender justice. Maheen has always grounded her work in the wisdom of women and girls of color who have survived the carceral system, sexual exploitation, and abuse. She served as Program Officer at the NoVo Foundation, and led the development of The Life Story Grants, a $10 million three-year commitment to support projects that close on-ramps into the sex trade and open exit ramps for survivors. Prior to joining NoVo, she was a staff attorney at Rights4Girls, a human rights organization dedicated to ending gender-based violence impacting marginalized girls and young women, where she advocated for the successful passage of numerous laws and policies at the federal, state, and local levels. She has co-authored several reports including The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline: A Girls’ Story, and Beyond the Walls: A Look at Girls in D.C.’s Juvenile Justice System. She holds both bachelor’s and law degrees from Georgetown University. Maheen is a first generation Pakistani-American who was raised mostly in the bay area of California, on Ohlone land. She was an Equal Justice Works Fellow, a Stoneleigh Emerging Leader Fellow, and National Juvenile Justice Youth Justice Leadership Institute Fellow.
Executive Director, Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women
Khara Jabola-Carolus is the Executive Director of the Hawaiʻi State Commission on the Status of Women, a feminist government agency in the United States dedicated to the liberation of women and non-binary people. Khara is the only millennial to direct a statewide government agency in Hawaiʻi. Previously, she led the Hawaiʻi Coalition for Immigrant Rights where she passed landmark legislation that extended driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants. She earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Hawaiʻi with a specialization in Native Hawaiian law and has performed fellowships at the United States Senate, Hawaiʻi Supreme Court, and Committee to Protect Journalists. Her family is from Laguna, Philippines.
