Page 10 - JUSTICE Tackling Racial Injustice - Children and the Youth Justice System

Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children deserve a proper engagement strategy so no
child is left behind.

Finally, the accounts of exploitation shared by BAME girls and young women
throughout the justice system need to be properly recognised as a serious
safeguarding issue. Laws and procedures already exist to protect these children but
renewed efforts are necessary to ensure these laws are properly enforced.

Treating children as children

Children must be recognised as, and treated as, children. This includes referring to
“children” in all relevant legislation and policies. Sadly, this is not currently the case,
as seen in the use of terms such as ‘juvenile’, in recent bills passing through
Parliament. Treating children appropriately also means making an honest assessment
of policies which impact them such as the police’s use of force, including handcuffing
and tasers, and we recommend robust reviews to this end.

The evidence base demonstrating the benefits of diverting children from the youth
justice system and the corrosive effect of custody for children is universally accepted
by the various agencies that form the youth justice system. We call for the
introduction of a national diversion framework to give children across the country an
equal chance to move away from crime.

A child centred approach is required by all actors across the criminal justice system.
We have seen examples of good practice where this is done, and call for its wider
application, in line with core principles that ensure the system understands and listens
to the voices of children before it. For instance, through restorative practice circles,
high-quality diversity training programmes and reverse mentoring programmes that
listen to children’s experiences to promote reflective learning. Moreover, the trial
and, where appropriate, introduction of pre-sentence hearings, and youth order
review panels should also work towards this goal.

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