Supporting Black Girls On the Continuum of Sexual Assault

Biases against Black girls, system failures, and the role of intersectionality in responses to trauma, and more, will be explored.

Research has demonstrated the failure of systems to provide needed supports for Black girls to be emotionally healthy. In experiencing trauma or when they engage in problematic decisions, system responses are often disproportionately harsh and do not meet the needs of Black girls.

Within this presentation, research addressing biases against Black girls, system failures, and the role of intersectionality in meeting the needs of Black girls who have experienced and/or caused trauma will be explored.

Learning Objectives

  1. Gain understanding of societal views of Black girls and the impact on their mental health and identity
  2. Identify system and societal responses to Black girls related to trauma experiences
  3. Address the role of gender-responsive treatment for Black girls through an intersectional framework

Speaker

Dr. Tyffani Monford Dent

Licensed Psychologist

Owner, Monford Dent Consulting & Psychological Services, LLC

Co-Founder/Executive Director, Living At The Intersections, Inc. (LATI)

Dr. Tyffani Monford Dent is a licensed psychologist both in private practice and within a psychiatric hospital. She also serves on faculty at an Ohio-based university within its School of Medicine-Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Dent’s primary areas of interests are sexual violence prevention and intervention on the continuum, the role of intersectionality in the lives of Black and Brown girls/women, racial trauma & radical healing, social justice work within the mental health profession, DEI within social justice organizations, and culturally informed therapy practices with a focus on decolonizing psychology.

Dr. Dent is the Owner of Monford Dent Consulting & Psychological Services, LLC through which she provides ongoing mental health consultation, assessments and DEI & systemic change work with mental health and social justice organizations. In 2023, she expanded her clinical practice to include therapy services with a focus on Black women and adolescents. In December 2022, she co-founded Living at The Intersections, Inc., a nonprofit organization focused on meeting the needs of Black girls & nonbinary youth, and Black Emerging Adult Women. LATI focuses on providing technical support to Black girl/nonbinary-serving organizations, emotional wellness, and social justice issues that impact Black girls/nonbinary youth & Emerging Black Adults.