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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:56 pm
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Results for juvenile detention centers
6 results foundAuthor: Asian Centre for Human Rights Title: India’s Hell Holes: Child Sexual Assault in Juvenile Justice Homes Summary: Sexual offences against children in India have reached an epidemic proportion and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO) is unlikely to be able to address the menace unless the Government of India and the State Governments take effective measures for proper implementation of the same. A total of 48,338 child rape cases was recorded from 2001 to 2011. These include 7,112 cases in 2011; 5,484 cases in 2010; 5,368 cases in 2009; 5,446 cases in 2008; 5,045 cases in 2007; 4,721 cases during 2006; 4,026 cases during 2005; 3,542 during 2004; 2949 cases during 2003, 2,532 cases during 2002 and 2,113 cases during 2001.1 The registration of cases of child rape have been consistently increasing and India saw an increase of 336% of child rape cases from 2001 (2,113 cases) to 2011 (7,112 cases). These are only the tip of the iceberg as the large majority of the cases of child rape are not reported to the police while children regularly become victims of other forms of sexual assault too. Many of the child rape cases take place in juvenile justice homes2 i.e. observation home, special home, or children’s home or shelter home set up, certified or recognized and registered respectively under sections 8, 9, 34, sub-section (3) of section 34 and section 37 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act [JJ(C&P) C Act]. At the end of financial year 2011-2012, about 733 juvenile justice homes in India had received grants under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It will not be an understatement to state that juvenile justice homes, established to provide care and protection as well as re-integration, rehabilitation and restoration of the juveniles in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection, have become India’s hell holes where inmates are subjected to sexual assault and exploitation, torture and ill treatment apart from being forced to live in inhuman conditions. The girls remain the most vulnerable. It matters little whether the juvenile justice homes are situated in the capital Delhi or in the mofussil towns. This report highlights 39 emblematic cases of systematic and often repeated sexual assault on children in juvenile justice homes. Out of the 39 cases, 11 cases were reported from government-run juvenile justice homes such as observation homes, children homes, shelter homes and orphanages, while in one case a CWC member was accused of sexual harassment during counseling sessions. The remaining 27 cases were reported from privately/NGO run juvenile justice homes such as shelter homes, orphanages, children homes, destitute homes, etc. Majority of privately/NGO run homes are not registered under Section 34(3) of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act (as amended in 2006) which provides that “Without prejudice to anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, all institutions, whether State Government run or those run by voluntary organisations for children in need of care and protection shall, within a period of six months from the date of commencement of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Act, 2006, be registered under this Act in such manner as may be prescribed.” In the case of government-run juvenile justice homes, the perpetrators were staffs including the caretakers, security guards, cooks and other Class IV employees, and the senior inmates. In two cases, the sexual abuses were committed by the senior inmates in collusion with the staff. With respect to the privately/NGO-run juvenile justice homes, the perpetrators include managers/directors/owners/founders and their relatives and friends, staff members such as caretakers, wardens, cooks, drivers, security guards, gatekeepers, senior inmates and outsiders including security forces. Out of the 27 cases in privately/NGO-run homes, inmates were responsible for the offences in five cases and out of these, in one case offence was committed in collusion with the staff. In most cases, sexual assault in the juvenile justice homes continues for a long period as the victims are not able to protest and suffer silently in the absence of any inspection by the authorities under the JJ(C&PC) Act. While authorities are the main predators, the absence of separate facilities, in many cases for boys and girls, and in most cases as per age i.e. for boys and girls up to 12 years, 13-15 years and 16 years and above as provided under Rule 40 of the Juvenile Justice Care and Protection of Children Rules 2007 facilitates sexual assault on the minor inmates by the senior inmates. The sexual assault on children the juvenile justice homes continues unabated as the Government of India i.e. the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the State Governments have failed to implement the JJ(C&PC)Act in letter and spirit. It failed to address four critical areas indispensable for addressing child sexual abuse in juvenile justice institutions i.e. functional Inspection Committees, registration of all juvenile justice homes, effective and functional Child Welfare Committees and separation of inmates on the basis of the nature of the offences, sex and age. Details: New Delhi: Asian Centre for Human Rights, 2013. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 4, 2013 at: http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/IndiasHellHoles2013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: India URL: http://www.achrweb.org/reports/india/IndiasHellHoles2013.pdf Shelf Number: 128667 Keywords: Child ProtectionChild RapeChild Sexual Abuse (India)Child Sexual ExploitationJuvenile Detention Centers |
Author: American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska Title: Growing Up Locked Down: Juvenile Solitary Confinement in Nebraska Summary: Before they are old enough to get a driver's license, enlist in the armed forces, or vote, some children in Nebraska are held in solitary confinement for days, weeks - and even months. This practice occurs in every Nebraska juvenile justice facility, to varying degrees, but the overarching theme of over-use is consistent throughout the state. On any given day in Nebraska, juvenile justice facilities routinely subject the kids in their care to solitary confinement. Like adult prisons, juvenile facilities sometimes employ the most counterproductive and inhumane correctional practices - including extended periods of solitary confinement, room restriction, isolation, segregation, and seclusion. Isolation practices frequently involve placing a youth alone in a cell for several hours, sometimes for multiple days; restricting contact with family members; limiting access to reading and writing materials; and providing limited educational programming, recreation, drug treatment, or mental health services. Throughout this report, "solitary confinement" refers to any physical and social isolation of children in juvenile detention facilities. It does not refer to short intervention "time out" practices used to help a juvenile manage current acting out behavior. While temporary use of seclusion for a youth may be necessary to maintain the safety and security of that youth or other people, the use of solitary confinement on children in Nebraska is clearly overused, and can cause much more serious problems than those it is supposedly employed to solve. Additionally, our research has uncovered that frequently the reasons why young people are placed in solitary confinement can be for even relatively minor offenses, such as talking back to staff members, having too many books, or refusing to follow directions. This research gives rise to the concern that juvenile facilities in Nebraska are not utilizing best practices for the use of solitary confinement and thus are risking serious mental health impacts for vulnerable youth. Details: Lincoln, NE: ACLU of Nebraska, 2016. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 26, 2016 at: https://www.aclunebraska.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/juvenile_solitary_report_final.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: https://www.aclunebraska.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/juvenile_solitary_report_final.pdf Shelf Number: 137745 Keywords: Juvenile DetentionJuvenile Detention CentersJuvenile InmatesSolitary Confinement |
Author: New South Wales. Inspector of Custodial Services Title: Making Connections: Providing family and community support to young people in custody Summary: Inspector of Custodial Services' first inspection examining juvenile justice centres looked at the ways in which family and community support is provided to young people in custody. That there is value in providing family and community support to young people in detention is widely recognised and is reflected in domestic legislation and Juvenile Justice Standards. It has been highlighted by the experience in other jurisdictions, such as the 1998 Queensland Forde Inquiry, that contact with family and community should be an entitlement of detainees, rather than a privilege. Family and community contact can reduce detainees' sense of isolation while in custody and can also support reintegration outcomes when they are released. This inspection examined two centres: Juniperina Juvenile Justice Centre and Reiby Juvenile Justice Centres. Juniperina is the only female-only centre in NSW, and Reiby accommodates both younger boys (10-16 years old) and those with behavioural issues. These centres were selected as they offered an overview of the types of issues faced by young people held in detention, who are often from a complex and disadvantaged background. The inherent challenges faced by JJNSW in assisting young people to maintain links with their family and community while incarcerated are exacerbated by the fact that a high proportion of young people are placed in a detention centre outside their home region and tend to spend a relatively short time in custody. Overall, the inspection found that JJNSW promotes and facilitates contact between young people and their families and communities in a satisfactory way. Contact with family is mainly facilitated through telephone and face-to-face visits; and juvenile justice officers involve family in the case management process where possible. Engagement with the local community is achieved through having programs delivered in the centres by non-government organisations, or the use of external leave or work arrangements where this is assessed as appropriate. The family contact policies are well defined by JJNSW and administered effectively by staff in the centres, although there are some differences in the ways they may be applied to individual cases. The Inspector appreciates the need to maintain flexibility when applying these policies, but underscores the importance of remembering that contact with family is an entitlement of all young people in detention and access to family should never be used as a tool to manage behaviour. A key point of concern for the Inspector that became evident during this inspection was the level of security utilised during visits. Rigorous security processes are essential to the smooth running of the centre, but they should not unfairly impinge on the rights of young people. Current practice sees strip-searching of young people carried out as routine procedure after, and in some cases before, being granted a visit with family. Young people are also dressed in security overalls for all visits, including non-contact ones. The Inspector believes these measures can create further problems for already fragile young people and that a proper risk-based assessment would target the trafficking of contraband equally as well. The inspection found that both centres have regular and ongoing engagement with their local communities and NGOs. Centre management works with local groups to deliver a range of in-house programs for young people, although the level of interaction varies across centres. An outstanding example of outreach with the local community is seen at the Waratah Unit at Reiby, a pre-release unit focusing on developing the life skills of young men before they are released. There are notable differences in the opportunities and programs offered to young men and young women and the inspection recommends that comparable opportunities should be available to women as they are to men. Such opportunities should be available for both in-house programs and access to a transitional program and external work release, such as that offered at the Waratah Unit. Details: Sydney: Inspector of Custodial Services, 2015. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 15, 2016 at: http://www.custodialinspector.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/FINAL%20Making%20Connections%20report.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Australia URL: http://www.custodialinspector.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/FINAL%20Making%20Connections%20report.pdf Shelf Number: 138246 Keywords: Community ParticipationFamilies of InmatesJuvenile Detention CentersJuvenile Offenders |
Author: Council of Europe Title: Report to the Government of the United Kingdom on the visit to the United Kingdom carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) Summary: The CPT's 2016 periodic visit to the United Kingdom provided an opportunity to review the treatment of persons held in adult and juvenile prisons and police custody in England for the first time since 2008. It also looked at immigration detention. Further, the visit had a specific focus on in-patient adult psychiatry and medium and high secure forensic psychiatry establishments in England. A good level of co-operation was received from both the national authorities and the staff at the establishments visited. However, on a few occasions, access to places of detention was delayed, and the CPT underlines that better coordination is needed to ensure that access to all establishments is rapid and information about the Committee's mandate is disseminated more widely. More generally, in light of the principle of co-operation, the CPT trusts that prompt and effective action is now taken to address long-standing recommendations such as prison overcrowding. Law enforcement agencies The CPT's delegation found that most people deprived of their liberty by the police were treated in a correct manner. It did, however, receive some allegations of verbal abuse from officers towards detained persons at the moment of apprehension and during transport to custody suites and of handcuffs being applied excessively tightly at the time of arrest. The CPT recommends that the United Kingdom authorities make it clear that verbal abuse towards detained persons is unacceptable and that handcuffs should never be applied excessively tightly. The CPT notes that there appeared to be no uniform approach to the use of means of restraint across the 43 police forces in England and Wales and it recommends that the safety of the use of 'spit helmets', velcro fixation straps and Emergency Response Belts in police custody suites be reviewed. Moreover, the CPT recommends that 'Pava' spray should not form part of the standard equipment of custodial staff and should not be used in confined spaces. In general, persons deprived of their liberty by the police were afforded the safeguards laid down in PACE Code C. However, several deficiencies were observed such as a protection vacuum when arrested persons had to wait for up to two hours in holding rooms before their detention was formally authorised and before they were informed of their rights by custody sergeants. The CPT recommends that all detained persons should be fully informed of their rights as from the very outset of their deprivation of liberty (and thereafter of any authorised delay) and current deficiencies impeding the complete recording of the fact of a person's detention should be rectified. Access to a lawyer and a doctor or nurse was generally being facilitated promptly in all police establishments visited. However, there was a lack of respect for lawyer-client confidentiality during consultation by telephone at Southwark and Doncaster Police Stations. As regards custody records, the CPT recommends that whenever a person is deprived of their liberty this fact is formally and accurately recorded without delay and without misrepresentation as to the location of custody, which was not the case at the TACT suite at Paddington Green Police Station. The material conditions of the custody cells in the police establishments visited were generally of a good standard. There was, however, a lack of access to natural light in many cells and most establishments visited were not equipped with proper exercise yards. The conditions at Paddington Green 'TACT' Suite, in particular, were inadequate and needed upgrading. Adult and juvenile prisons The CPT welcomes the recent recognition of the need for profound reform of the prison system at the highest political level. The CPT's delegation discussed the nature and scope of the prison reform agenda with the authorities, where it stressed the problem of violence in prisons. In the view of the CPT, taking resolute action to tackle the problem of violence in prisons in England and Wales is a prerequisite for the successful implementation of other elements of the authorities' reform agenda. The CPT recalls that the adverse effects of overcrowding and lack of purposeful regime have been repeatedly highlighted by the Committee since 1990. Over the last 25 years, the prison population has nearly doubled, and almost all adult prisons now operate at or near full operational capacity and well above their certified normal capacity. The CPT emphasises that unless determined action is taken to significantly reduce the current prison population, the regime improvements envisaged by the authorities' reform agenda will remain unattainable. The CPT's delegation received almost no complaints about physical ill-treatment of inmates by staff in the prisons visited. Nevertheless, it did receive a few complaints about verbal abuse and observed tense relations between staff and inmates. It was, however, deeply concerned by the amount of severe generalised violence evident in each of the prisons visited, notably inter-prisoner violence and attacks by prisoners on staff. Injuries to both prisoners and staff, documented over the previous three months, included inter alia cases of scalding water being thrown over victims and 'shank' (make-shift knife) wounds, and frequently required hospitalisation and in one case resulted in the death of an inmate. The CPT examined the violence through the prism of three criteria: recording incidents of violence, responding to such incidents and specific measures taken to reduce violence. Despite the considerable number of instruments established to capture data regarding violent incidents, there were systemic and structural weaknesses in the documentation process. At both Doncaster and Pentonville Prisons, the delegation gained the impression that the actual number of violent incidents appreciably exceeded the number recorded. This issue appeared to be particularly acute at Doncaster Prison, where the delegation established that some violent incidents had either not been recorded or recorded as being less serious than they were in practice. Moreover, the delegation observed first-hand that violent incidents were not always reported by staff. While the number of recorded violent incidents at all prisons visited was alarmingly high, the CPT believes that these figures under-record the actual number of incidents and consequently fail to afford a true picture of the severity of the situation. Further, inmates at both Doncaster and Pentonville Prisons complained that staff responded slowly to violent incidents. This fuelled a feeling of fear and a perception of a lack of safety among inmates. The consequence was a lack of trust in the staff's ability to maintain prisoner safety. As a start, the CPT recommends that the time taken to respond to inmates' call bells be improved. The CPT is also not convinced of the effectiveness of the specific ongoing measures initiated to reduce and prevent violence and recommends that a far greater investment in preventing violence be undertaken. The CPT's findings in the establishments visited indicate that the duty of care to protect prisoners was not always being discharged given the apparent lack of effective action to reduce the high levels of violence. The cumulative effect of certain systemic failings was that none of the establishments visited could be considered safe for prisoners or staff. The CPT recommends that concrete measures be taken to bring prisons back under the effective control of staff, reversing the recent trends of escalating violence. At Cookham Wood YOI, the high levels of violence were managed primarily through locking juveniles up for long periods of time, on occasion for up to 23.5 hours per day; greater investment in establishing more small specialised units to manage juveniles with complex needs should be made. The CPT underlines that many aspects of prison life are negatively affected by the state of overcrowding in the prison system. For example, living conditions in the prisons visited, in particular Pentonville Prison, were adversely affected by the chronic overcrowding: cells originally designed for one prisoner now hold two. Equally, overcrowding also significantly affects the regime. The delegation found that the regimes in all prison establishments visited were inadequate, with a considerable number of prisoners spending up to 22 hours per day locked up in their cells. Many inmates stated that the long lock-up times contributed to a sense of frustration. The CPT recommends that steps be taken to ensure that inmates attend education and purposeful activities on a daily basis, with the aim that all inmates on a normal regime spend at least eight hours out-of-cell. At Cookham Wood YOI, juveniles on a normal regime spent on average only five hours out of their cells each day. The situation was particularly austere for those juveniles who were placed on 'separation' lists (denoted by vivid pink stickers of 'do not unlock' on their cell doors), who could spend up to 23.5 hours a day locked up alone in their cells. In the CPT's view, holding juveniles in such conditions amounts to inhuman and degrading treatment and all juveniles should be provided with a purposeful regime and considerably more time of cell than is currently the case. As regards the provision of health-care in the prisons visited, the delegation noted that health-care staffing levels were, with a few exceptions, adequate and there was generally good medical documentation of injuries. Medical screening of prisoners upon arrival was of a good quality and carried out promptly. That said, medical confidentiality was not always respected. For example, medication was given to prisoners in corridors or dispensed through a hatch in view of other prisoners. Also prisoners continued to be systematically handcuffed during hospital transfers; the CPT reiterates that handcuffs should only be applied after an individualised risk assessment. Delays in prisoners with mental-health problems being transferred to psychiatric hospitals, in some cases for several months, remain a problem. Further, the placement of prisoners with acute mental health conditions in segregation units is inappropriate. The CPT recommends that prisoners suffering from severe mental illnesses are transferred immediately to an appropriate mental health facility. In this connection, high priority should be given to increasing the number of beds in psychiatric hospitals to ensure that in-patient health-care units, such as the one at Pentonville Prison, do not become a substitute for the transfer of a patient to a dedicated facility. Further, all prison staff should be trained to recognise the major symptoms of mental ill-health and understand referral procedures. Details: Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2017. 102p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 22, 2017 at: https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168070a773 Year: 2017 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://rm.coe.int/CoERMPublicCommonSearchServices/DisplayDCTMContent?documentId=090000168070a773 Shelf Number: 145160 Keywords: Correctional HealthHuman RightsJuvenile Detention CentersMental Health ServicesPolice BehaviorPolicingPrison ConditionsPrison Violence |
Author: Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse Title: Child sexual abuse in custodial institutions: A rapid evidence assessment Summary: Child sexual abuse (CSA) involves forcing or enticing a child or young person under the age of 18 to take part in sexual activities. It includes contact and non-contact abuse, child sexual exploitation (CSE) and grooming a child in preparation for abuse. As part of its work the Inquiry is undertaking an investigation into the extent of any institutional failures to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation while in custodial institutions. The investigation will consider the nature and scale of child sexual abuse within the youth secure estate in addition to institutional responses to the sexual abuse of children in the youth secure estate. The rapid evidence assessment (REA) has been carried out to inform the investigation by reviewing the existing research evidence base. The REA explores the following: - Evidence related to the prevalence of child sexual abuse in custodial institutions; - Socio-demographic characteristics, both of victims and perpetrators; - The factors associated with failure to protect or act to protect children in the care of custodial institutions; - The nature of the safeguarding systems in place and how they have changed over the years; - Recommendations in the literature regarding how those systems may be improved to better protect children in custody from sexual abuse. Details: London: The Independent Inquiry, 2018. 161p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 28, 2018 at: https://www.iicsa.org.uk/investigations Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.iicsa.org.uk/investigations Shelf Number: 149946 Keywords: Child GroomingChild Sexual AbuseChild Sexual ExploitationCustodial InstitutionsJuvenile Detention CentersJuvenile Inmates |
Author: Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse Title: Cambridge House, Knowl View and Rochdale: Investigation Report Summary: This investigation report concerns child sexual abuse in Rochdale, relating to Cambridge House, Knowl View School and the late Cyril Smith. We are primarily concerned with the institutional responses of Rochdale Borough Council, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. Smith first came to prominence as a local councillor, then Mayor and later as Member of Parliament from 1972 until his retirement in 1992. He died in 2010. Cambridge House was a hostel for working boys run by a voluntary organisation of which Smith was Honorary Secretary, and was open from 1962 to 1965. He had ready access to the boys living in the hostel, allegedly facilitating his sexual abuse of them under the guise of 'medical examinations' including, in most cases, of a boy's private parts. He also administered punishment for truancy, illness or absconding, which included spanking a bare bottom. He told police in a written statement in 1970 that at all times he was acting 'in loco parentis' to the boys, but we found it inexplicable that he thought his role permitted 'medical examinations' when he had no medical qualifications. He had considerable control over which boys were admitted to the hostel and, in general, showed a strong, perhaps unduly detailed, interest in children in care as his political career developed. This interest appeared to go unchallenged by the Council. Cyril Smith's prominence and standing in Rochdale allowed him to exert influence on others locally - in particular, to put pressure on them to keep quiet about any allegations of abuse. Although the Lancashire Constabulary investigation into Smith pursued the allegations robustly and diligently, the Director of Public Prosecutions advised that there should be no prosecution. It has been suggested that Smith or his supporters may have exerted improper influence on the Director of Public Prosecutions, but there is no evidence to support such an allegation. Valuable opportunities were, however, lost in 1998 and 1999 to charge and prosecute Smith during his lifetime, and for the complainants of his alleged abuse to seek justice. Smith's standing in public life increased, and in 1988 he was awarded a knighthood for his political services. It is clear that there were some frank discussions at the highest political level about the rumours in circulation about him, with no obvious concern for alleged victims. Rather, the concern was about what would be fair to Smith and whether the honours system might subsequently be brought into disrepute. We concluded that this demonstrated a considerable deference to power and an unwillingness to confront the possibility that a person of public prominence might be capable of perpetrating sexual abuse. Cyril Smith's links to Knowl View School in Rochdale led the Inquiry to a wider investigation of that school and allegations of sexual abuse by other individuals of children who lived there. It was the sexual abuse of children by others that became the focus of the Inquiry's investigation. We heard from complainants of sexual abuse who had been at Knowl View School in a period extending over 25 years, beginning in 1969. The evidence demonstrated that the children who attended the school had a range of complex needs, including learning disabilities, autism and mental health. Many had also suffered from adverse experiences in their family life and had already been abused. We concluded that, far from taking additional steps to protect these children, the school and other institutions had come to regard their sexual abuse while at Knowl View as almost expected, or as something that could not be prevented. The children's experience of the school was extremely poor at the most basic level of the fabric of the building, which bore no resemblance to a homely environment. Nor was the school safe, secure, caring or therapeutic. It was supposed to offer education and care, but in reality it offered neither in any way that could be seen as adequate, let alone nurturing. The institution failed in its basic function to keep children in its care safe from harm and, in particular, safe from sexual harm, both within and outwith the school. Child sexual abuse involving children from Knowl View occurred from its early years onwards. Within the school there was sexual abuse of boys by staff, and of younger boys by older ones. Sexual exploitation of some boys was also taking place in Rochdale town centre, in the public toilets and bus station, by men paying for sex. Some boys were also trafficked to other towns for that purpose. In a particularly shocking incident in 1990, Roderick Hilton, a known sex offender who had previously been convicted of sexually abusing a boy at Knowl View in 1984, gained access to the school and the boys over two nights, when he indecently assaulted at least one of them. Hilton was well known to the staff of the school, who did nothing over many years to deter him targeting the school. He was imprisoned in 1991 for a series of child sexual offences. Despite this, on his release from prison on licence, he continued to be a malign presence at the school, 'little' was done to stop Hilton's continued access to the grounds and buildings. For most of the school's existence, staff were at best complacent but arguably complicit in the abuse they knew to be taking place, and they must take their share of the blame for what was allowed to occur. It was our strong conclusion that Knowl View staff simply treated the sexual abuse between boys as 'normal', without differentiating between what was experimentation and what was coercive and intimidating. There was little evidence that the school appreciated the profound harm that peer-on-peer sexual abuse could cause. Sexual exploitation of children from the school at Smith Street public toilets was known about by the authorities from at least 1989. Indeed, some Social Services' staff could see the toilets from their offices, recognised some of the boys as children in care and were deeply suspicious of what was going on, although there was no apparent follow-up. The records of individual children convey a total lack of urgency on the part of the authorities to address the problem and treat the matters involved for what they were - serious sexual assaults. One boy's file recorded that he had contracted sexually transmitted hepatitis through 'rent boy' activities. We concluded that no one in authority viewed any of this as an urgent child protection issue. Rather, boys as young as 11 were not seen as victims, but as authors of their own abuse. Subsequent police show that the police did not turn a blind eye to the sexual exploitation of boys in Rochdale town centre. They knew children were being exploited in Smith Street toilets, but did not obtain sufficient evidence to prosecute. There is evidence of a willingness on the part of police officers to investigate. Nevertheless, the records that survive do not provide any satisfactory answer as to why police did not charge anyone, despite knowing the names of men involved and obtaining some disclosures from the boys who were victims. etc. Details: London: The Independent Inquiry. 2018. 167p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 28, 2018 at: https://www.iicsa.org.uk/document/cambridge-house-knowl-view-and-rochdale-investigation-report-april-2018 Year: 2018 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.iicsa.org.uk/document/cambridge-house-knowl-view-and-rochdale-investigation-report-april-2018 Shelf Number: 149947 Keywords: Child Grooming Child ProstitutionChild Sexual Abuse Child Sexual Exploitation Custodial Institutions Juvenile Detention Centers Juvenile Inmates |