Children address UN body
QUNO co-organise an event giving children an unprecedented voice
The children of prisoners have, for the first time, spoken directly to a meeting of a United Nations body. The unique event was co-organised by the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO). The event in Geneva was a ‘day of general discussion’ of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Such discussion days usually take place annually and QUNO have requested on several occasions that it be devoted to considering the needs of prisoners’ children around the world. This time, their request was taken up.
The speakers included two young people from the north of England, who spoke of their first-hand experiences of having parents in prison. They talked of their wish not to be isolated, their need for information and their desire to offer inspiration for change.
Other speakers included a children’s rights activist from Pakistan, a child psychologist from Brazil and a South African lawyer involved in a groundbreaking case in 2007. The case had resulted in the Constitutional Court of South Africa ruling that the rights of offenders’ children must be a primary consideration when the courts are deciding on sentences.
QUNO’s Oliver Robertson and Helen Kearney ran a workshop looking at how prisoners’ children are affected emotionally, financially and socially.
One participant, Kate Philbrick, said she felt ‘privileged’ to attend the event. She added: ‘As a Quaker, I was immensely proud that this event came about because QUNO had spent many years working towards making it happen.’
On the day of the meeting, the Howard League for Penal Reform released a new report showing that the imprisonment of women leads to 17,000 children being separated from their mothers every year in England and Wales. They said that 11,000 children would be spared this situation if women whose offences did not involve violence were given community sentences instead of jail.
