Reinserta is a non-profit organisation that specialises in the care and protection of children in contact with violence in Mexico. It has recently published the study ‘Niñas, niños y adolescentes en contacto con el Sistema de Justicia Penal en México’ (‘Children and Teenagers in Contact with the Criminal Justice System in Mexico’). This publication is the result of 71 interviews and 103 questionnaires carried out in seven Mexican states with children in contact with the justice system, as well as their caregivers and different authorities within the system.
The study incorporates various first-person testimonies, which seek to shine a light on the situations experienced by these children. The testimonies foreground the institutional violence that many children suffer from the moment of arrest to their trial, as well as the shortcomings within the system, such as the lack of child-friendly procedures and specialised professionals.
These testimonies are interspersed with data from this and other research, along with measures that have been proposed by the international standards in the fields of juvenile justice and children’s rights. The report emphasises the need for Mexico’s justice system to treat young people according to these standards, adapting its procedures and providing specialist training for its professionals in order to achieve this.