They make you feel guilty for just being there. They search you and make you take your shoes off and you feel ashamed.’ Like 14-year-old Clare, who is visiting a member of her family in prison, thousands of children throughout the world are being punished even though they have committed no crime.
The issue of the rights of prisoners’ children has not been properly addressed by any international body, and by very few national governments. According to the British support organization Action for Prisoners’ Families (APF), imprisonment can cause long-term harm to the children of offenders.
