ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the adultification of Black girls in South America -– specifically in Colombia, Panamá, and Brazil – as a paradigmatic/contemporary case of what international law categorizes as crimes against humanity. Black girls in cities like Cartagena and Cali in Colombia, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and Colón in Panamá are subjected to an intensified and hyper-accelerated process of adultification that includes labor exploitation, murder, enslavement, torture, enforced disappearance, and other inhumane treatments. Consequently, here, it is argued that despite the overwhelming violence that places young/Black/feminized bodies of Black girls at the forefront of news on femicide, torture, and enslavement, there is little or no advancement in public policy and social movements to prevent the repetition of these heinous acts. Contrarily, the few voices denouncing adultification connected to racist and sexist bias are being silenced, proving how the adultification of Black girls is intrinsically linked to an extensive and traceable history of Black humanity devaluation, especially to the consistent degradation of Black girls’ bodies. Finally, this chapter highlights the imperative need to support the organizational efforts by young Black girls to combat adultification and dismantle the racist, misogynistic, and classist structures.
