More than a million children around the world live in detention without the possibility of having a lawyer. This often happens in countries where juvenile courts or specialized judges do not exist and where minors are held in flagrant violation of international treaties.The way a state treats its prisoners is a fairly good indicator of the quality of its democracy: a society is judged on the way it treats its children. In many countries have been created prisons, detention centers, house arrest, re-education camps, and prisons for children, where young people are kept in inhumane conditions. Too often dignity is violated while promiscuity, racketeering and violence are part of the everyday life.With this work I wanted to show inequality, injustice and humiliation these persons experience. An inventory of juvenile justice and of the situation of minors in conflict with the law. I have being travelling for eight years, and I wanted to use my position as a photographer to show the legal system for minors in eleven countries with very different geopolitical situations: peace and war, rule of law and authoritarian regimes. It is a story designed to bring them out of the shadows.
Lizzie SADIN