Nearly one million children in the European Union have a parent in prison. In addition to being separated from their parent, these children frequently experience trauma linked to the stigma and discrimination of having a parent in prison and violation of their rights. In Bulgaria, an estimated 12,500 children have a father in prison. Children of Prisoners Europe … Read More
On 13 February, COPE, in partnership with the Fédération des Rélais Enfants Parents (FREP) and Child and Space, officially launched its new “Papa Plus” initiative. The launch took place at COPE and FREP’s new shared office space, and was an intimate evening of presentations and fruitful discussion followed by live music and conversation. Through presentations … Read More
In 2016, the UN launched a “Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty”. There is a severe lack of quantitative and qualitative data, research and verified information relating to children deprived of liberty. The UN Global Study, lead by Independent Expert Manfred Nowak, intends to look at the scale of the issue (collecting disaggregated data) … Read More
The 11th European Forum on the Rights of the Child took place in Brussels on 7-8 November 2017, entitled “Children deprived of liberty and alternatives to detention,” bringing together over 350 participants from UN agencies and bodies, global, European and national organisations and individuals working to protect, defend and promote the implementation of the rights … Read More
The Council for Penological Co-operation (PC-CP) of the Council of Europe has published the draft Recommendation on children with imprisoned parents. The draft Recommendation was presented during the 7th PC-CP Plenary meeting, 6-8 November 2017. It comes after months of work and collaboration between the PC-CP and COPE. The Recommendation acknowledges the challenges faced by … Read More
Volume 5 of the European Journal of Parental Imprisonment (EJPI) is available online! This volume, entitled Making children count: Improving data collection for children with imprisoned parents, focuses on the importance of data collection and the manner in which data is collected and then used. The language used and ways of collecting data can affect … Read More
The European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services (EuroPris) Family Relations Expert Group has drafted a Good Practice Collection in cooperation with Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE). This Collection has come out of two years of fruitful exchange between Prison and Correctional Service representatives from eleven countries across Europe, along with COPE. The Collection covers … Read More
For the first time, COPE was able to send a small delegation of children impacted by parental imprisonment to the Children as Actors for Transforming Society (CATS) Global Forum, in Caux, Switzerland. The week-long Forum’s theme of “Reaching for an inclusive world” offered children a “platform that inspires others to share their difficulties, to tackle … Read More
“Reaching for an inclusive world” In addition to the upheaval that often comes with having a parent in prison, children with imprisoned parents can experience sadness, stigma, bullying, exclusion. They can feel as though they deserved what is happening to them: often feeling ashamed and different from other young people. Studies show that public and … Read More
Save the date! The 11th European Forum on the Rights of the Child will take place on 7-8 November 2017 in Brussels. In the context of the forthcoming UN global study on children deprived of liberty, the Forum will focus on the deprivation of liberty of children (children in conflict with the law, immigration detention, … Read More
