Children with Imprisoned Parents: Support their rights to family life

Dear Ministers,

Today, some 800,000 children in the EU are affected by the imprisonment of a parent. Over half of all prisoners worldwide have children under the age of 18, yet the impact of a parent’s incarceration on a child is not taken into account in most penal codes and prison systems. Parental incarceration can stigmatize children and expose them to multiple risks in terms of their psychological development. Negative repercussions can be greatly reduced with simple changes in prison policy that could make a parent’s incarceration less traumatic and punitive for a child.

I would like to support this group of children and let them know that they are not invisible to the European community and that we will not leave them behind.

I am signing, therefore, this Eurochips petition recommending the following reforms:

• Improved prison visiting conditions for children, including more visiting hours, awareness-raising and training for prison staff, and permission to maintain regular contact with a parent in prison


• The creation of national monitoring groups to obtain more information on this group of children and to maintain quality visits

I urge you to do everything in your power to help these children through these difficult times in their lives. They too are our future.

Thank you very much for your attention to this matter.

Yours sincerely