CYP Now - Action needed to help girls in custody

A decade ago, there was an average of 166 girls in custody at any one time. Now there are only 28, a more rapid fall than that for boys. This is good news, of course, but a recent report by Pippa Goodfellow, director of the Standing Committee for Youth Justice, highlights why there is no room for complacency. Here are three reasons why.

First, this low number does not mean that we have yet reached the "custody as a last resort" threshold that underpins international conventions on the treatment of children in trouble. A third of girls were sent to custody for non-violent offences and 58 per cent were guilty of offences at the less serious end of the offending spectrum.

Second, these girls have high levels of assessed vulnerability, suggesting they should be in the welfare rather than the justice system.

Third, girls from black and minority ethnic communities are significantly over-represented in the group of children in custody, especially among those on custodial remand. Labour MP David Lammy has challenged all criminal justice organisations to "explain" the reason for this bias - or reform. As yet, no explanation is forthcoming.

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