violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

“The life here in prison is very difficult. It is hard, because it is not easy for a person to live.We who are new here suffer a lot. We sleep badly. Usually, you don’t sleep – you fall asleepsitting down until the morning. Because the prison is overcrowded. We eat badly. We are suffering,we’re beaten with a belt, the boss of the discipline beats us a lot. They sleep with us.The cell bosses force us to sleep with them (to have sexual intercourse).”Boy, 14, Eastern and Southern Africa, 2005 IV5On the plus side, more progressive attitudes arebeginning to make an impression in pocketsof the developing world. Some of these effortsto change attitudes towards marginalised anddiscriminated children, and to keep themfrom the descent into criminality which canbe expected to follow exposure to incarcerationand police brutality, are examined moreclosely later.most modern child development experts, butthe crime- and safety-conscious society mayinsist upon it.The CRC and other human rights treaties setout guidelines for the use of detention, andprovides that it should always be used as a lastresort and for the shortest possible time (article37). However, custodial regimes for the under-18s vary enormously, and few live up to theseprovisions.HAITI, 2005, Boys reach through bars at a jail for juvenilesin the Delmas neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince.Children in conflictwith the lawThe discourse about children and criminalitygoes to the heart of strongly held views aboutchild development, upbringing methods, thepurpose of justice systems, political pressures,and the human potential for transformationafter a ‘bad start’ in life. Institutionalisation isopposed as anything except as a last resort byUNICEF/HQ05-1934. Roger LemoyneWhy children come into conflictwith the lawViolence in the home and the pressures ofchronic poverty, coupled with a lack of adequatecare and protection systems, result inmany children coming into conflict with thelaw. Research conducted in Peru found thatfamily violence and child mistreatment werethe precipitating factors in 73% of cases ofchildren migrating to the streets. 96 Oncethere, many children engage in risky survivalbehaviours that bring them into contact withthe law, including begging, loitering, scavenging,petty thieving or prostitution. Hence thefrequent association between petty crime andthe desperate need of care. In a study of youngoffenders in three districts of Uganda, 70% ofchildren said that meeting their own needs,including those for food, was their main motivationfor stealing. 97Up to 95% of children in detention are chargedwith minor and petty offences. 98,99 Theft andother property crimes are most common. Inthe Philippines, a study in Davao City foundthat more than 80% of offences were for theft193Violence against Children in care and justice institutions