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Mr Kaseke

Sukoluhle Ndlovu Midlands Correspondent
Young offenders face rejection from society after being released from prison, which eventually leads to recidivism, Childline Zimbabwe has said.

Addressing Zimbabwe Prison and Correctional Services members and stakeholders that deal with juveniles in conflict with the law during a Childline coordination meeting in Gweru on Friday last week, Childline projects coordinator Mr Marshal Kaseke said young offenders were facing segregation after being released from prison.

He said there was need for the establishment of community rehabilitation centres aimed at making society accept people released from prison.

“Young people who would have been released from prison according to research are being victimised,” said Mr Kaseke. “They are being segregated from society.

“There are no community-based rehabilitation programmes for young offenders and at the end of the day they face a lot of stigma and they are viewed as outcasts by members of society.

“Such treatment hardens them and it eventually leads to recidivism. There is a need by the rehabilitation systems to engage the families of victims and offenders to reduce tension in the society.”

Mr Kaseke said most young offenders lacked support from their parents or guardians and end up giving up on life.

“When these kids are incarcerated, some are not visited by their parents or guardians,” he said. “As a result, they give up on life because they realise they are on their own. It is more difficult for them to find gainful employment and to generally function in society because they carry the ‘ex-convict’ label with them.”

Mr Kaseke said accepting the young offenders back to the community reduced habitual relapse.

“If the young offenders are welcomed with warm hands in society, chances of them committing other crimes are very limited as they have the support of the community,” he said.

“But if they are rejected, they are likely to commit other crimes and the taxpayer’s money will continue to be used to support a broken system that sets ex-offenders up to fail once they are released.”