1.4 million children in prison...
right now around the world - with devastating effects on their lives. Kids who spend time in prison are twice as likely to drop out of school, use drugs and commit suicide compared to kids in alternative programs. Children in prison are abused or beaten by officials, held in solitary confinement and shackled for days at a time. Many centers lack medical services, education, and even basic sanitation.
Children who have been imprisoned are the most likely to become criminals as adults. Many are recruited into gangs while in prison, increasing crime and exacerbating social insecurity. Excessive juvenile detention doesn't make us safer.
Each Child Has A Story...
20 Hours
Oscar's Story
Poor and in Prison
Father and Son
The Family
An Unlikely Happy Ending
Advocating for a 30-day limit to pretrial detention in Geneva and Paris
In May we released our new report “Children in Pretrial Detention: Promoting Stronger International Time Limits” which recommends that children spend no longer than 30 days in detention awaiting trial. Along with are partners from the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center and American University Washington College of Law International…
Marco Antonio and Children in Detention
Last Tuesday, January 23rd, Marco Antonio Sánchez a 17-year-old high School student and his friend got off a Metrobus in Mexico City. The local police accosted Marco and carted him away. Marco had no criminal history and was not doing anything wrong. That kicked off a frantic five-day search for…
These people will change the system…
This past week we conducted our first training seminar for juvenile detention center personnel – guards, counselors, social workers and probation officers. We spent a week training them on human rights, prevention of torture, supervising teenagers on release programs and other topics critical for the improvement of Mexico’s…
Proposed Legal Reform to Limit Juvenile Pretrial Detention
(Video only available in Spanish) Last September 28th, Congressperson Victor Manuel Sanchez Orozco, of the Movimiento Ciudadano party, presented a legal reform to the National Juvenile Justice System Law in Mexico´s National Congress. Juvenile Justice Advocates has been working with Congressperson Clemente Castañeda Hoeflich and Congressperson Sanchez, this year to…