25th May 2011
A new report highlighting the experiences of children of imprisoned parents in the EU has just been published. Children of Imprisoned Parents is a collaborative research paper from the Danish Institute for Human Rights, the European Network for Children of Imprisoned Parents (EuroCHIPS), the University of Ulster and Bambinisenzasbarre.
An estimated 800,000 children live apart from a parent due to that parent's imprisonment. The report highlights experiences of the children of prisoners in Denmark, Italy, Poland and Northern Ireland.
While the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child protects the rights of children whose parents are imprisoned, it highlights how they can develop feelings of shame and experience bullying from their community. The report is calling for the rights of these children to be respected and strengthened across Europe.
The report also includes accounts of people who work with children of prisoners including their parents, police and prison officers and social workers. It gives accounts from children across every stage of the criminal justice process from remand to imprisonment and release.
This report comes ahead of European Prisoners' Children Week which takes place from 1st to 8th June 2011.
(IPRT would like to highlight that Agnieszka Martynowicz, our former Policy and Research Officer contributed to Chapter 7 of the full report!)
Read more:
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.