The right not to lose hope: Children in conflict with the law – a policy analysis and examples of good practice

Violence is a major root cause of children coming into conflict with the law in the first place. This report shows that violence is a recurring theme in the lives of these children and not only after they come into conflict with the law. Part 1 analyses the experiences and situation of these marginalised children. Rather than focusing solely on children in the justice system, it looks at the broader context of these children’s lives – in particular, the failure of care and protection systems and criminalisation of children’s coping strategies. The second part of the report looks at eight projects around the world that are working to support children in conflict with the law. It contains detailed case studies of community-based responses in Honduras, Laos, the Philippines, Kenya, Ethiopia, China, Uganda, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.This report was written as a contribution to the UN Study on Violence Against Children. Its recommendations to governments and other agencies look at the broad context of issues affecting children in conflict with the law, covering prevention, decriminalisation, diversion, the justice system, and reintegration and rehabilitation.