13,000 children in prison...
right now in Mexico - 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. In Mexico, three quarters of the 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—something countries like Mexico can ill-afford. 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
Rebecca Rosefelt Goes to Prison
Special post by Rebecca Rosefelt, our 2017 Summer Intern: I had prepared myself for the worst. Over the year I’d read a variety of articles and stories on prison: stories about inmates who fought for prison education; a journalist who went undercover as a correctional officer; an exposé on visiting…
Welcome our 2017 Summer Intern – Rebecca Rosefelt
This summer, Rebecca Rosefelt, a law student at the University of Minnesota, is our legal intern. Rebecca is spending her summer in Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua city interviewing detained teenagers, helping present workshops on prisoner rights to teens and families, and conducting research on international standards for juvenile detention. “I am really…
Hundreds of Children Never Sent to Prison
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This year we are starting a new project in Mexico City. We haven’t worked in the Mexico City juvenile detention centers for three years. Today was the first time that I have returned to the pretrial detention center in Mexico City. In 2013, on any given day there were 250…
“Know your rights” empowering juveniles and families…
Our first “Know Your Rights” workshop with juveniles and family members at the CERSAI juvenile detention center in Ciudad Juárez… Saturday, March 18th we were very excited to begin our “Know Your Rights” workshop, in collaboration with the State Human Rights Commission of Chihuahua and the Chihuahua Public Defender’s Office.…