Maud de Boer-Buquicchio: "A prison is not a place for children"
Council of Europe Deputy Secretary General Maud de Boer-Buquicchio last week in Venice endorsed the creation of a new facility for women with young children within the female penitentiary at the Giudecca in Venice: "We must always keep in mind the interests of the child - to be with its mother but also to be in an environment adapted to its age where he or she can play and grow up in dignity. A prison is not a place for children", highlighted Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, while visiting the new premises that will open after the summer. The facility, based in a historical 18th Century building next to the prison, will permit small children to remain in pleasant, open accommodation with their detained mothers. Along with other women in the penitentiary, the mothers have the opportunity to learn useful workskills during their detention, which can help their re-integration into societies on their release.
"The Council of Europe has developed a strategy pioneering children rights and has proposed a series of normative guidelines to safeguard minors. The best interest of the child in justice and in penitentiary policy is part of this approach, and I encourage the Italian authorities in their initiatives to develop innovative approaches" said the Deputy Secretary General.
