Seclusion use must change, says report

Children, young people and women – especially Ma¯ori – are being forced into seclusion for too long in detention agencies.

These are the findings of a follow-up report that has pushed the Human Rights Commission to call on detention agencies to reduce, if not eliminate, the use of seclusion and restraint.

Oxford University’s Dr Sharon Shalev said it was ‘‘disappointing’’ that problems highlighted in 2017 had not been addressed.

Seclusion in all agencies was used too often and for too long, and not always for a clear reason, and data on the use of force and restraint raised concerns.

Chief Human Rights Commissioner Professor Paul Hunt said the report was ‘‘gutting’’. There had been some positive development, but ‘‘there are racial and gender implications that we’ve got to confront as a country’’.

‘‘We know that the practices of seclusion and the use of restraints, particularly where they are used for prolonged periods, are inherently harmful,’’ Hunt said.

‘‘Proactive, preventive alternatives, based on human rights and Te Tiriti and focused on deescalation and trauma-informed practice, must be at the forefront.’’

In 2019, there were 15,225 recorded instances of segregation placements in New Zealand’s prisons, with 1339 of those lasting longer than 15 days. About 55 per cent lasted up to 30 days, and some for more than six months.

Women were segregated at a higher rate than men. Ma¯ori women were disproportionately represented in longer segregations, making up 59 per cent of these stays, 78 per cent of all stays in management units, and 65 per cent in units used for punishment.

‘‘These discrepancies need to be explored as a matter of urgency, to determine whether decision-making processes may be influenced by unconscious bias or other factors relating to gender and ethnicity,’’ the report said.

People Against Prisons Aotearoa spokeswoman Emilie Ra¯kete (Nga¯puhi and Te Rarawa) said Ma¯ori women were the fastestgrowing prison population, and the report showed the overall failings of the approach to equity that the Government had taken.

‘‘We need to stop believing in beautiful words. These haven’t been matched with action yet. Solitary confinement is torture and banned under international law,’’ she said.

The report found that too many children and young people were spending too long in conditions which could ‘‘adversely affect their health and wellbeing, retrigger traumatic events, and damage relationships in the

residences’’. It also found that the potential for harm may be worse for Ma¯ori children.

Between June and December 2019, 76 children and young people between 14 and 18 were placed in a secure unit 298 times, for a few hours to 20 days. In total, they spent 815 days in secure care, and more than half of those children identified asMa¯ori.

During the same time, 14 children between 12 and 16 were placed in a secure care unit of a care and protection residence 70 times, and 62 per cent of those children identified asMa¯ori.

Data from Oranga Tamariki found that in the six months to December 2019, there were 366 uses of force in Youth Justice facilities, and 184 incidents in Care and Protection residences.

‘‘A distressed child should not be placed in conditions known to be stressful. This runs contrary not only to international human rights law, but also to common sense.’’

Children’s Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft said the report showed the urgent need for the phased closure of the four large care and protection residences, and the reduced use and eventual abolition of the four youth justice detention centres.

‘‘For most New Zealanders, these residences are invisible, and they operate below our radar. Most staff do their conscientious best, but in the context of a flawed model. Some of the treatment and conditions these children and young people are subjected to are plainly unacceptable, as this report and our residential monitoring shows.’’