Labour MP calls for inquiry into overrepresentation of Traveller children in youth custody
Neil Puffett
Friday, January 6, 2017
Labour MP Kate Green has called for an inquiry into the overrepresentation of Gypsy, Traveller and Roma (GTR) children in the youth justice system after it emerged that one in 10 children in secure training centres and seven per cent of boys in young offender institutions are from the ethnic grouping.
A report by the Traveller Movement, based on analysis of data featuring in the Prison Inspectorate's Children in Custody report also identified alarming trends and disturbing experiences of GTR children in youth custodial institutions.
The report found that GTR children reported greater levels of abuse and victimisation from members of staff, with almost one in three (29 per cent) reporting that they had experienced physical abuse from staff.
Just under a third of GTR children had received insulting remarks from a member of staff and were also twice as likely to report being threatened or intimidated by a member of staff.
A quarter of GTR children believed the abuse they had received from staff had occurred because they were from a "Traveller community".
Gypsy, Traveller and Roma children were also found to suffer bullying from other children in these institutions, GTR children were five times more likely to report that they had their canteen or property taken from them by other children in STCs (37 per cent to 7 per cent).
Green, who is a member of the justice select committee has called for an inquiry into why GTR children are overrepresented in the youth justice system.
"These children have been passed from pillar to post, with each agency and institution passing responsibility on to the next until their challenging behaviour escalates to the point that they end up in the criminal justice system," she said.
"It is about time the formal inquiry - as highlighted previously by former HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick - into what is leading to Gypsy, Traveller and Roma children being overrepresented in these institutions is launched."
She also raised concerns about the fact that numbers of GTR children in youth custody is not officially recorded.
"The absence of data means there is no pressure on STCs and YOIs or indeed the Youth Justice Board, to ensure Gypsy, Traveller and Roma children progress, rehabilitate or are even kept safe whilst they are detained," she said.
"These institutions therefore go unchallenged when it comes to addressing the needs and issues facing GTR children, and their experience of discrimination continues."
