The Croatian ombudswoman for Children, Helenca Pirnat Dragičević, raised awareness on the importance of the rights and the need for support of children who have one or both parents imprisoned, as part of the European campaign, "Not My Crime - Still My Sentence”.
The campaign is developed by Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE), the pan-European network that promotes the rights of children with parents behind bars. Founded in 2000, COPE is a network of non-governmental organisations, individuals and other stakeholders from Europe and beyond, having its headquarters in Paris. COPE supports practices and programs that “ensure the rights of children with imprisoned parents are fully respected and that action is taken to secure their well-being and healthy development”.
According to COPE, about 2.1 million children from the countries that are members of the Council of Europe are separated from an incarcerated parent, while 800,000 are based in the European Union. This vulnerable group of children face not only the trauma of separation, they are also exposed to poverty, instability and discrimination.
Croatian authorities have started developing programs since 2006 that protect children in this situation, but progress needs to be made. At the end of last year, “of the 2,211 persons behind bars in Croatia, one third were parents of a total of 1,325 underage children”.