Babies Behind Bars

In Nepal, when a woman goes to prison and there are no other relatives willing or able to take care of her children, the children often go with her to jail. For the past 7 years, the Early Childhood Development Center in Kathmandu, Nepal has been rescuing these children from prison, often in cases where the children are at risk of facing or have already faced trafficking, child labor, or incestual rape. In prison, the children are not given their own food ration, health care, warm blankets or clothing, and they are not allowed to attend the adult educational classes. They suffer trauma, health complications, and fall far behind in their education. This is a system that perpetuates crime by teaching children violence and ignoring the importance of creativity and education from such a young age. Deprived of their most basic needs, the children are molded into a life of poverty and imprisonment before they even get a chance to become who they are.