“The first time I entered a juvenile prison in Latin America, I was shocked how many of the kids were waiting months and months to see a judge. Most have no hope of being released for years. When they are finally released, they go back to their communities with no support system. Lagging behind in school with no work skills, they have few options. Locking up kids for petty offenses actually makes crime worse in the long run as lives are needlessly thrown away… “
In 2013, Douglas Keillor is a human rights attorney. In 2012, Douglas moved to Mexico City as a Fulbright-Garcia Robles Fellow to research juvenile detention. In 2013, he founded Juvenile Justice Advocates International.
Mexicans are among the biggest consumers of sweet bread in the world. Everyone has their favorite sweet bread and it is hard to walk by more than two streets without coming across a bakery. María* a young girl from the CEMEPA Center (Mexico City’s center for services for youth on release) came up with an […]
The use of solitary confinement and isolation for detained children in Latin America is too common. Solitary confinement is overused by poorly trained guards as an “easy solution” to deter a child from misbehaving, however, it has lasting negative impacts on their mental and emotional health. Juvenile Justice Advocates International (JJAI) works to implement positive […]
This year’s Father’s Day at the Chihuahua Detention Center was unlike any other for some of the young fathers who live there. For Juan* it was his first Father’s Day ever. He was a young teenager when he had a baby with his girlfriend one-year before he was detained and subsequently taken into the detention […]
