ภาษาไทย 
Vietnamese
More than 1 million children across the world live in detention – 90 per cent of them committed minor offences.
In detention, children experience various types of violence including beating, rape, humiliating and degrading treatment, torture and extra-judicial execution. Some children and young people are detained in prisons for adults and are held for long periods while they await trial, making them vulnerable to further violence and abuse.
International laws have long recognised that formal criminal justice systems should deal only with young people who have committed serious and violent crimes and who pose a real security risk to others. Detention should always be a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible time. Yet children continue to be criminalised inappropriately and exposed to a system that is often violent and frequently disapproving.
When a child comes into conflict with the law, it represents a fundamental failure to fulfil that children’s rights to adequate care and protection at an earlier point in their lives. Therefore, to demand justice for children is not just to require that they are not abused at the hands of those who are meant to enforce the law; it is also to require that society recognisses and addresses the realities of children’s lives, and the root causes of their offending.
Protection in practice
The Philippines
Through partners, local government agencies and communities in the Philippines, Save the Children Sweden supports a diversion programme in 12 villages in Cebu City which helps boys and girls reintegrate into their families and communities. The programme assists in mediating the children’s cases and prevents children who have committed minor offences from entering the formal justice system.
Our local partners provide training to social workers, service providers and community officials in Cebu City and Quezon City to support implementation of the Juvenile Justice Welfare Act and to develop programmes that help children in conflict with the law reintegrate into their communities and not re-offend. We also work with parents, community volunteers, social workers and other service providers to increase the understanding of children’s rights and child protection and to provide appropriate care for children who have committed offences.
Viet Nam
Save the Children Sweden and partners work together to strengthen the legal aid system for children in Viet Nam. This includes working with authorities and legal aid providers to give children access to legal aid services that comply with international standards, while also strengthening the skills of lawyers and legal aid providers on counselling and representation for children.
Save the Children Sweden supports National Legal Aid Fund which provides poor children in conflict with the law with access to counselling and representation. We work with partners to inform children and their caregivers about their rights, including their right to legal aid, and facilitate their access to legal aid.