NGOs call for more investments in education against juvenile crime

Representatives from NGOs opposing the reduction in the age of criminal responsibility from 18 to 16, as proposed by a bill currently under consideration at the lower house, urged government officials to boost investments in education and vocational training for teenagers and adolescents instead of passing the legislation. Their protest was voiced during a meeting held Monday (Mar 30) by the Constitution and Justice Commission, at the Chamber of Deputies.

National Youth Council chairwoman Ângela Guimarães argues that reducing the age would not necessarily result in lower crime rates. “Countries experienced in holding 12-, 14-, and 16-year-olds in custody demonstrate how unsuccessful this measure is—which is, by the way, being reconsidered. When a young person has a school routine, coupled with access to publicly provided leisure and culture, and vocational training policies, he or she can only be an asset to the nation,” she says.

She criticized those who claim adolescents have become more involved in homicides. According to data from the 2013 Brazilian Forum on Public Security, a mere 4% of killings in Brazil—a country with one of the world's highest homicide rates—were committed by people younger than 18.

Ângela Guimarães further noted that adolescents and teenagers are more exposed to violence and are therefore more prone to be victims than perpetrators. “Brazil has been reported by the Organization of American States as registering 56 thousand deaths every year, of which 30 thousand are young people aged 15-24,” she remarked.

In the view of Vitor Alencar, from the National Association of Defense Centers, protesting against lowering the age of criminal responsibility does not mean adolescents who commit a crime against life should go unpunished.  He opposed the idea that no penalty is handed down to underage lawbreakers, and said that society as a whole feels as if adolescents were not held accountable for law infringements, which he refers to as a misconception, as the Statute of the Child and the Adolescent (ECA, in its Portuguese acronym) sets forth a number of socio-educational measures aimed at young offenders, such as community service, probation, and admission at an institution.

Viviane Magalhães is a member of the National Network for the Defense of the Adolescent in Conflict with the Law and the mother of an adolescent who has been taken to an institution in the Federal District. She too argues against the change. In her opinion, the involvement of youths in drug trafficking serves to introduce them to the world of crime.

“Before we know it, he shows up at home with a lot of stuff, and you have no idea where he got it from. Then he drops out of school. We're short of better schools, or a place for leisure or vocational training,” Viviane says.

Marcos Rogério, from Rio de Janeiro, one of the congressmen who support the new legislation, calls for increasing both the penalties and the socio-educational measures stipulated in the Statute for minor offenses. “For heinous crimes, I argue for lowering the age of criminal responsibly,” he told Agência Brasil.

In an interview with Agência Brasil last week, National Secretary for Youth Gabriel Medina said an alternate solution to violence is the full enforcement of the ECA, not harsher laws.

“There are still thousands of children and adolescents who don't live under the conditions necessary for their development—whether it's because of their family structure or because of the government's inability to provide them with appropriate policies. Even though the situation in the country has improved considerably, we can still find young people living a life marked by street violence, and surely this violence comes back,” Medina said.

Further reporting by Nielmar Oliveira, from Rio de Janeiro.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira