An appeal was made yesterday for prisoners to be allowed more contact with their children.

This was especially important when one considered that greater contact between parent and child lessened criminal tendencies in youngsters, said people who work closely with those behind bars.

“When a parent is sentenced to prison, the child also suffers the punishment,” Nicholas Valencia, from Mid-Dlam għad-Dawl, said at a conference organised by the NGO.

The burden on children was twofold – financial and emotional, he pointed out.

The emotional strain was enormous but studies by the local organisation had found that this could be reduced.

“Visits are not a privilege for children, but a right,” Mr Valencia said.

In a recent study by Mid-Dlam għad-Dawl of 78 prisoners, including seven women, who between them have 122 children, it was found that only 10 prisoners never had contact with their children.

About 28 of them would like to see a better environment in which to meet their children, where they could at least have some time alone with them; while 17 others hoped to have more contact with their offspring.

The prisoners were only able to send one letter a week from prison, Mr Valencia pointed out, making it very difficult for them to find alternative ways to keep in touch.

Speaking at the event, lawyer and lecturer Ruth Farrugia said the state should be duty-bound to seek out children of prison inmates and offer support.

She called for further scientific studies to reveal the true picture, pointing out that in the US, 2.3 per cent of children had a parent in prison in 2007, amounting to some 1.7 million children.

The situation for children and prisoners was the result of a vicious circle, Seqda senior medical officer Anna Maria Vella said, giving case studies as examples.

In the world where Clyde (name has been changed) grew up, drugs used to be present on the table right next to the bread. He remembers his mother storing drugs in his nappy and this would be exchanged for money when he was passed over to a buyer. “His nappy would either contain drugs or cash, so he was taught not to make a mess in it,” Dr Vella said. By the time he was 16 he entered Detox, only to kill someone during a robbery a few years later and being sent to prison.

While still in his 20s, the same boy who was introduced to drugs before he could walk died of an overdose.

“What purpose did his prison sentence serve?” Dr Vella asked, calling for a break in the circle.

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