violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

5in prison for crimes they had committed aschildren. An estimated 59% were sentenced tolife imprisonment without parole for their firstevercriminal conviction; an estimated 26%were convicted of ‘felony murder,’ in which thechild had participated in a robbery or burglaryduring which a co-participant had committedmurder, often without the knowledge or intentof the child. Racial disparities are marked, withAfrican-Americans receiving the sentence 10times more often than white children. 135Violence by adult detaineesNational legislation in most countries requiresseparate facilities for children in conflict withthe law in order to prevent abuse and exploitationby adults. Yet in many countries, detentionwith adults still occurs. Since 2001, theCouncil of Europe’s Committee for the Preventionof Torture has recorded its concern aboutyoung people being kept in the same cells asadults in at least three Council of Europecountries. In Germany, for example, in 1988UNICEF reported that young people under 18were not systematically separated from adults,putting them at risk of threatening behaviour,blackmail, or even rape by older prisoners. 136In police lock-ups, where space is limited,children are often held together with adultswho may perpetrate violence, including sexualviolence, against them. Adequate supervision,particularly at night, is often lacking, resultingin further abuses by police, including rape.In some parts of the world, separate facilitiesfor short-term custody or longer-term detentionmay not even exist. In States where separatejuvenile justice systems have not beeninstalled, children are routinely detained withadult offenders under appalling conditions,increasing their risk of violence from olderinmates. 137In addition, where countries allow childrento be detained, tried, and sentenced as adults,they may also incarcerate them with adults.In the USA, nearly every state has recentlychanged its laws to make it easier to try childrenas adults; in 2000, an estimated 55,000children were tried in adult courts. 138 Childrenwho are convicted in these courts are then typicallydetained in adult prisons.Violence by other childrenAs in care institutions, children in detentionfacilities are vulnerable to violence from theirpeers, particularly when conditions and staffsupervision are poor. Lack of privacy, frustration,overcrowding, and a failure to separateparticularly vulnerable children from older,more aggressive children often lead to peeron-peerviolence.In Rio de Janiero, gang-related rivalries haveled to serious episodes of violence among childrenheld in juvenile detention centers, includingbeatings, stabbings, rape, and murder. 139 Inthe UK, a 2005 report from the Chief Inspectorof Prisons and Youth Justice Board (Englandand Wales) found that 21% of both boysand girls had been hit, kicked or assaulted byanother young person. 140Self-harmChildren in detention are at heightened riskof self-mutilation and suicidal behaviour due199Violence against Children in care and justice institutions