Blog

10 years on, “I have something to say”: Children with incarcerated parents raise their voices

Children with a parent in prison are forgotten victims of imprisonment whose rights and welfare are affected at every stage of their parent’s detention – yet they often remain invisible in criminal justice systems. In the third blog of our series for the World Congress on Justice with Children, 10 years after the Committee on the Rights of the Child held a Day of General Discussion and issued recommendations on children of incarcerated parents, Lía Fernández discusses efforts to raise the voices of children and adolescents with a parent or relative in prison in Latin America and the Caribbean – and what they have to say.

Lía Fernández4th November 2021

Ending corporal punishment of children in penal systems

Despite international bodies calling for the abolition of corporal punishment of children, in many states it is still lawfully used as a disciplinary measure in penal institutions and as a sentence for crime. In the second blog of our series for the World Congress on Justice with Children, Sonia Vohito, Legal Policy Specialist at the End Violence Partnership, outlines recent progresses and remaining challenges in achieving prohibition of corporal punishment of children.

Sonia Vohito1st November 2021

Ensuring access to justice for all: the 2021 World Congress on Justice with Children

Children in contact with the law face multi-dimensional violence, discrimination, rights violations, and structural barriers throughout their contact with justice systems. In the first blog of our series for the World Congress on Justice with Children, PRI’s Tríona Lenihan considers the key barriers to children’s equal access to justice and presents the upcoming Congress which focuses on non-discriminatory and inclusive child justice systems.

Tríona Lenihan27th October 2021

Ending capital punishment in the OSCE: who plays the most important role?

Although some progress has been made towards abolition of the death penalty, several countries – including some in the OSCE area – retain the death penalty for certain offences. In the third blog of our series examining trends identified in Global Prison Trends 2021, Jennifer Roberts from OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) outlines […]

Jennifer Roberts25th October 2021

The invisible of the invisible: foreign nationals in prison and probation during COVID-19

The number and proportion of foreign nationals in prison and serving probation varies greatly between regions and countries. In the second blog of our series examining trends identified in Global Prison Trends 2021, Petra Pavlas considers the particular impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on foreign nationals in prison and probation as well as its impact on those released from prison during this time in Europe, where foreign nationals make up almost a quarter of national prison populations.

Petra Pavlas6th September 2021

Towards digitalisation of prisons: Finland’s Smart Prison Project

The past year has seen rapid advances in the use of technological solutions in prisons globally. In the first of our new blog series expanding on trends identified in Global Prison Trends 2021, Pia Puolakka, Project Manager of Finland’s Smart Prison Project, details the process and benefits of digitalisation of prisons and in-cell technology, and […]

Pia Puolakka6th July 2021

Double punishment: The situation, challenges and adversities faced by mothers in prison around the world

Around the world, thousands of children are separated from their mother – often the primary caregiver – when she is sent to prison. In the fifth blog of our series marking the tenth anniversary of the UN Bangkok Rules, Miranda Rathmell, a Prison Officer at HMP Downview in the UK, looks at the complex and […]

Miranda Rathmell21st June 2021

UN system agrees on priorities to tackle global prison issues in their first ‘common position on incarceration’

In this blog Olivia Rope, Executive Director of Penal Reform International, gives a summary and highlights a few key points from the recently published ‘Common position on incarceration’ from the United Nations System. For the first time, the United Nations system has issued a common position on incarceration which was unveiled at an event on […]

Olivia Rope11th June 2021

Prisons and food: From in-cell eating and meal-lines to collective and domestic kitchens

People in prison lose autonomy and agency over many aspects of their lives, usually including food production and consumption. In this blog, Sabrina Puddu examines the different approaches taken to food in prisons, looking at trends from eating alone in cells, to dining halls, and collective and domestic style kitchens. Collective kitchens are witnessing a […]

Sabrina Puddu2nd June 2021

Women deprived of liberty and excessive use of pre-trial detention in Peru

In this blog, Jérôme Mangelinckx considers the drivers and implications of the growing female prison population in Peru, examining the overuse of detention for those awaiting trial, and how to move towards greater use of non-custodial alternatives to detention.  2020 marked the tenth anniversary of the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners […]

Jérôme Mangelinckx26th April 2021