The Many Faces of the Girl Child Detainee

Sad realities

In 2006, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported 10,094 cases of youth offenders under their service. 704 of these youth offenders are female.

Lack of adequate clean food and water, filthy surroundings, congested jail environment, a girl child detainee does not only struggle against these prison conditions. A girl child detainee primarily struggles against gender biases and the stereotype notion of the typical girl child belonging at home, fulfilling her duties and responsibilities as expected of females.

Tagged as a ‘criminal’ or a ‘female youth offender’, the girl child detainee’s only resort – compose an air of courageous defiance and remain true to her image as a common criminal.
The reason - the society grips with its iron fist the female who have asserted their individuality and independence to defy the norms and customs which have long strangled the female population. The terms are, of course, harsher for those who have been involved in ‘criminal’ activities – the girl child detainee.

The situation of the girl child detainee around the nation varies. They are mixed with female adult offenders while the male child detainee is often provided with a separate cell in jails around National Capital Region. This set-up increases the possibility of the girl child being influenced by the hardened adult offenders than that of the male child. Under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, the rights of the female youth offender are given the necessary recognition. Sec. 47 of the law states that female offenders

“placed in an institution shall be given special attention as to their personal needs and problems. They shall be handled by female doctors, correction officers and social workers.”
Meanwhile, Sec. 48 asserts gender sensitivity training for personnel of rehabilitation, detention and training facilities. Clearly a positive development in the previous enforcement of the law on youth offenders.

Another salient provision of the law is Sec. 63 which states the Prohibition against Labeling. Under the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, competent authorities are now refrained and prohibited “from branding or labeling children as young criminals, juvenile delinquents, prostitutes or attaching to them in any manner any other derogatory names.”

Dawn of Hope
Issues surrounding the girl child detainee are lethal primarily because she is still a child, considered among the vulnerable sectors of the society. Second, she is a child detainee, which provides her the unfortunate circumstances of being detained inside the inhumane prisons of the country. Last, she is a girl, a female, a direct subject for discrimination, and gender biases within and beyond the detention cells.

With the passage of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006, a stream of hope lingers inside the shadows of the damp, overcrowded jails housing every girl child detainee.

Although the society is far from respecting and recognizing the rights of the girl child offender, the law remains a symbol of a concrete step towards the fulfillment not only of the rights of the girl child detainee, but the rights of every woman as well.