violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

“Sometimes one day in prison felt like a year.But after ten days you get used to it and you don’t cry as much.”Boy in juvenile detention, Middle East, 2003 I5IntroductionAround the world, millions of girls and boysgrow up for substantial periods not in theirown or alternative families, but under the controland supervision of care authorities or justicesystems. The institutions they live in have manynames, including orphanages, children’s homes,care homes, prisons, juvenile detention facilities,reform schools, etc. They may be open or closed(i.e. where children are locked in), and may berun by Governments, private companies or individuals,or by non-governmental or faith-basedorganisations. Many are large-scale, and childrenwho enter them can live prolonged periodsof their lives inside. Whatever their name,these institutions govern the day-to-day lives,personal development and future life chances ofa very large number of children.Although these institutions are established toprovide care, guidance, support and protectionto children, the boys and girls who live in themmay be at heightened risk of violence comparedto children whose care and protectionis governed by parents and teachers, at homeand at school. Reports from many countriesin all regions show that institutionalised childrenare often subjected to violence from staffand officials responsible for their well-being.This can include torture, beatings, isolation,restraints, rape, harassment, and humiliation.In addition, the stigmatisation, isolation andoften de-socialisation that results from theseinstitutionalised responses place boys and girlsat much greater risk of being exposed to furtherviolence and in some cases becoming perpetratorsof it.Children are institutionalised for a variety ofreasons. Some are placed in orphanages (aswell as in more home-like arrangements suchas foster care or kinship care), because theyhave lost their parents and have no extendedor surrogate family to go to – a problem thatis expanding due to AIDS, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Others are there because ofphysical or mental disability, psychiatric orother severe illness. Many have been givenup by parents who, lacking money or supportservices to cope with their child’s disabilities,feel they have no alternative. As a result, manychildren with disabilities are institutionalisedin hospitals. Some have run away, or have beenremoved by the authorities, from violent andabusive homes.The majority of children in the custody ofpolice, or in detention because of actual orperceived offences should not be there. Inmany countries, this group typically includeschildren simply in need of care and protectionbut who have been placed in correctionalfacilities under charges such as vagrancy, andhave thereby been criminalised for nothingmore than homelessness and poverty. The vastmajority of children in detention are chargedwith minor or petty crimes, and are first-timeoffenders. Very few have committed violentoffences. 1 The ‘institutionalised’ umbrellaalso includes migrant and refugee children,including those seeking asylum and who areplaced in detention centres while their casesare being decided. Children in the custody ofthe State as members of peacetime armies arealso included.175Violence against Children in care and justice institutions