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Young people and children are particularly vulnerable to being swept up in the criminal justice system. We work to secure access to justice, now and for generations to come.
Children aged five locked up alongside their mothers. Men, women, and children sent to prisons that are standing room only. And in some cases, women giving birth to babies who die on the floors of overcrowded cells.
In Uganda, almost 20% of the prison population is aged under 21. In Kenya, more than 200 children live in prison with their mothers.
Young people are losing their youth to a prison system that does not protect them.
Regardless of our age or status, each of us should be protected by the law as well as answerable to it.
Young people suffer most in the criminal justice system. But they also have the greatest potential to change it from within. Improving access to justice for generations to come.
We equip young people and mothers, whose young children are often kept in prison alongside them. Through learning their rights and understanding their cases, we each become justice defenders. Able to stand up to wrongs, facilitate a just legal process and access a fair hearing.
No matter age, wealth or education, our paralegals provide free legal services to everyone that enters one of our 35 legal offices in prisons across Africa.
In The Gambia we run juvenile legal awareness sessions to help young people understand their rights and the legal process.
We work to ensure young people are protected by the law. When we find juveniles' cases are being handled as adult matters, we work to ensure they are brought before a children's court instead.
The proportion of women who benefit from our services is three times higher than the proportion of women in prison. In addition to legal services, we offer women's human rights awareness sessions, creating a safe space to discuss issues such as domestic violence and sexual offences.
While our paralegals are able to provide legal services to everyone in prison, the more sensitive and complex cases are referred to our more experienced, employed advocates.
Read about one of these cases: Rose's story.
While we focus on providing access to justice, one of our generous donors helped us open a daycare center at Thika Women’s Prison, Kenya. Providing children with a safe place to play with suitable toys.
Hamadi Faal, 21, was arrested and charged with stealing. While on remand, he appeared in court once and the magistrate issued a release order. However, due to police mismanagement, Hamadi was left in custody for nine extra months. He reached out to the Justice Defenders team. His files were traced, and it was discovered that he had been held illegally since July last year. We acquired the release warrant and gave it to the prison authorities, who processed his release on in March 2022.
Two 17-year-olds, Boto and Ebrima, were arrested and charged with drug possession. Upon entering a not-guilty plea, they were kept on remand for six months. They later admitted that they had pleaded not-guilty due to pressure from their peers. After contacting Justice Defenders, the boys admitted to the charge and changed their plea. Due to their age, we advocated for a suspended sentence, and they were sentenced to three months of community service.
Caroline is a 23-year-old mother of one, charged with causing grievous harm. She was sentenced to imprisonment, where she stayed with her one-year-old child. Our paralegals at Naivasha Women’s Prison advised her to resolve the matter with the complainant. This was successful and she and her child were released in February 2022.
“The way Justice Defenders has been operating in this area should be emulated across Uganda. It has been very successful in ensuring that people access justice and that the prisoners, and their rights, are respected.”
"The training they provide helps the inmates understand the law and where they came into conflict with it. I haven’t seen any prisoners who have been supported by Justice Defenders return to prison.”
“If we get sentencing wrong, then I don't think we're able to get anything else right. So I'm behind Justice Defenders one hundred percent."
