How do correctional authorities and advocates frame girls’ sexual victimization during incarceration? Drawing from 34 interviews with Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) personnel, youth advocates for incarcerated girls, and technical assistance providers, I argue that correctional institutions serve as sites where advocates actively construct and contest incarcerated girls’ credibility as victims of youth-on-youth and staff-on-youth sexual misconduct. While carceral institutions broadly deem incarcerated girls as legible victims of some sexual abuse, the “victim” label often fails to secure protection from institutional gender-based violence. Together, interviews reveal how girlhood, carcerality, and sexuality shape incarcerated girls’ vulnerability to sexual violence throughout confinement.
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