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Summary: Among the Education Minister's concerns were a gender bias in the education opportunities offered to male and female detainees, the practice of locking children up for status offences, and the emphasis on retribution over rehabilitation.
[3 October 2013] - Girls are not treated equally as boys in the nation’s juvenile detention facilities, Minister of Justice, Emmanuel George, said yesterday as he laid bare “alarming” findings of a review of the youth justice system conducted by his ministry. Addressing a symposium at the Hyatt Regency, Dock Road, Port-of-Spain, on reforming the youth justice system, George said a “system of institutionalised gender bias” exists, particularly in relation to education opportunities, which are afforded to boys, but not girls. “Since the Ministry of Justice began its work of reviewing the system, identifying its gaps, inefficiencies, and anomalies, the management of offenders, particularly young offenders, stood out as one of the critical elements of the system in dire need of immediate intervention,” George said. “What was found was not only alarming, but often times heart rending.” He continued, “We found a system of institutionalised gender bias, in that girls in detention are not afforded the same opportunities to continue their education and pursue programmes for personal development, as are their male counterparts.” George further noted there was no facility for the detention of female offenders under 18, as existed for boys. “The girls are housed in a separate wing of the adult female facility,” he said. “We need to target the areas of discrimination that exist in the present environment. Both boys and girls must be afforded equal treatment and equal opportunities for education and access to development programmes.” The Minister stated further findings in relation to the system of youth justice generally. He said it was found that the system was one with little discernible difference between the treatment of children and adults, who are in conflict with the law. “The system has made no distinction in its treatment between children who commit a criminal offence, from those in need of social assistance because of their circumstances,” he said. He noted the system saw children often detained at institutions on the basis of statutory provisions which appear to discriminate against children by effectively criminalising childhood conduct which, if committed by adults, would not be offences. As an example, he cited the use of Section 44 of the Children’s Act to send children deemed “beyond control” to orphanages. The minister noted problems such as truancy, which are “status offences”, are often treated, through use of Section 44, as criminal offences. George said there was, “criminalisation of behaviourial problems such as truancy, breach of the school rules, or the state of being deemed ‘‘beyond control’’. What is more, so-called status offences if committed by adults would not be considered an offence at all. Thus, giving rise to the legally-sanctioned discrimination against children, based solely on their status of being a child.” In this regard, there also seems to be a gender disparity as girls appear to be more likely to be held for these so-called “status offences”. The minister said 76 per cent of boys held at the St Michael’s School for Boys are held for status offences such as: truancy, breach of school rules, or “because they were rebellious, and were brought before the court by a parent or guardian seeking assistance.” At the Youth Training Centre at Golden Grove, nine per cent of boys are there for status offences. In contrast, at the St Jude’s School for Girls, 97 per cent are held for status offences, or safe keeping as a result of themselves being victims of crime. At the Women’s Prison at Golden Grove, 92 per cent of the girls there are being held for either status offences or safe-keeping as a result of having no parent willing to provide for them. “Status offences, ladies and gentlemen, are largely a result of socio-economic or psychological problems not criminal activity,” he said. “What has evolved, out of need rather than by design, is a system where children who commit status offences and who are kept in need of the State’s care and protection are deprived of their liberty and kept alongside those who have committed minor and even serious criminal offences.” At the symposium, one woman – who asked for her identity to be withheld – gave a harrowing account of her experience of the court system while a child, recalling how she ended up in court several times, ran away from one institution, and endured prison conditions. All along, she had been suffering from an undiagnosed medical condition which triggered aggression issues. “I am still 18 years old but I have learned some hard lessons,” she said. “I am still learning some lessons.” The minister also criticised archaic legislation which focuses mainly on punishment and forced training of the young offender rather than rehabilitation. He further lamented the long waiting times for trials, citing one example where a 15-year-old boy was charged for murder. That “boy” is now 24, and still awaiting trial. Further Information: