SAN FRANCISCO (APRIL 1, 2021) — The Dui Hua Foundation is proud to announce the conclusion of the International Symposium on Girls in Conflict with the Law (GICL). Beginning in October 2020, the 12-webinar series explored key issues and best practices related to girls’ criminal offending and rehabilitation. The final webinar took place on March 30 and featured participants from China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC), the highest court in the People’s Republic of China.
The GICL brought together experts representing 18 countries to present a global snapshot of policy, approach, challenges and successes on girl’s justice and the criminal justice systems that they move through. Topics for the webinars included alternatives to juvenile incarceration, sex trafficking, and the treatment of Indigenous youth in Canada and Hawaii.
John Kamm, founder and Executive Director of the Dui Hua Foundation said, “The first goal of the Symposium was to raise awareness, second, to exchange and talk about best practices with experts, and finally, to make recommendations to governments and other institutions on how to deal with this crisis.”
Titled “Special and Priority Protection of the Legitimate Rights and Interests of Underage Girls in Accordance with the Law,” (中国最高人民法院:依法特殊、优先保护未成年女性合法权益), the final webinar on March 30 featured SPC representatives Jiang Jihai (江继海), Director of Juvenile Justice Guidance Division (中国最高人民法院少年审判指导工作处处长), and Dai Qiuying (代秋影), Director & Deputy Researcher of Department of Criminal and Administrative Justice Research (中国最高人民法院中国应用法学研究所刑事行政审判研究部主任、副研究员), China Institute of Applied Law. They discussed the number of girls tried, causal factors, types of crimes, and the SPC approach to handling crimes in accordance with the rule of law.
“It is unusual for China’s highest judicial body to join with an American human rights group to do a joint program online. This webinar underlines the high level of engagement and expertise GICL was able to bring to the table from the international community on the topic of juvenile justice for girls,” said Kamm.
All the webinars, transcripts, additional materials and recommendations are available on the virtual webinar space GirlsJustice.org. Visitors can watch a webinar, start a conversation with a panelist, and download recommendations to share with decision makers.
The Symposium was organized by an international cross-section of leaders and organizations that work in the fields of criminal and juvenile justice: the Dui Hua Foundation, Managing Attorney for the Juvenile Division of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Patricia Lee, Penal Reform International, the University of Hong Kong School of Law Centre for Comparative and Public Law and the University of Hong Kong Centre for Criminology.
To learn more about The International Symposium on Girls in Conflict with the Law, visit GirlsJustice.org. For questions, please contact Dui Hua.