Children’s “Tsar” Claims Young Invisible Victims Of Jailed Parents

Children of jailed parents are the “invisible” victims of crime, Scotland’s children’s tsar said today. A new report before the Scottish Parliament highlights the trauma faced by around 13,500 children who have a parent in prison.

Youngsters left behind often struggle to cope as their needs are not considered by the authorities, according to children’s commissioner Kathleen Marshall.

advertisementMany are bullied because they have a parent in jail and some struggle financially, the report found.

Cases were uncovered where a child was being forced by their father to take drugs to their mother while in prison.

Another was being abused by a sibling while their mother was in jail.

Ms Marshall said there should be an end to the potential for prison visits to be withdrawn as a punishment for the parent.

She said in the report: “The children of prisoners are innocent and vulnerable and they must be helped to feel nurtured and valued by our society.

“Where children appear in prison policies and procedures it is as potential aids to the rehabilitation of their parent rather than as persons in their own right.

“They are not seen, not heard and, importantly, not guilty.”

The report makes 28 recommendations for ministers.

These include the need to raise awareness of children’s rights among arresting police officers and prison sentencing that takes account of the impact on children.

Better facilities should be available for children visiting their parents in jail.

One father serving time wrote to the Scottish Green Party to say he had recently been transferred to a prison with inadequate arrangements for family visits.

“My son must sit at a table opposite me fidgeting because the environment he’s in makes him feel uneasy,” he wrote, and complained his son was treated by the prison authorities “as if he’s the criminal”.

Glasgow MSP Patrick Harvie said: “Nobody takes the view that those convicted of serious crimes should receive more lenient sentences because of their family circumstances.

“However, the children of prisoners have done nothing wrong, and the justice secretary must ensure better facilities are provided for them to see their parents or carers in Scotland’s prisons.

“If ministers fail to address this problem, thousands of children across Scotland risk being alienated from their parents each year.

“As a society we cannot afford the unnecessary alienation and misery that the current system often causes.”