Petition Description:

Children are suffering — and no one is talking about it.

Across New Zealand, the use of secretive prison regimes like PERD, TNOC, and PERU is not only harming the mental health of incarcerated people, but also punishing innocent children by cutting them off from meaningful relationships with their parents.

Prisoners held under these regimes are often kept in prolonged solitary confinement — locked in their cells for up to 23 hours a day, for weeks, months, or even years. In many cases, they are denied in-person visits, refused physical contact, or only allowed brief video calls under guard supervision.

Children growing up without hugs, eye contact, or touch from a parent are not just “collateral damage.” They are the silent victims of a broken system.

This must stop.

Children deserve connection. They deserve the chance to know their parents. And incarcerated parents — many still awaiting trial — deserve humane treatment that protects their role as caregivers, not erases it.

Why It Matters:

Research shows that strong family bonds reduce reoffending and support rehabilitation.
Children with incarcerated parents are at higher risk of mental health struggles, grief, identity confusion, and poverty — outcomes worsened by strict isolation policies.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which New Zealand is a signatory, guarantees the right of a child to maintain direct contact with both parents unless it is against their best interests.
Yet under PERU and TNOC, many children are kept from seeing, hugging, or speaking with their parent — sometimes for years.

This isn’t just about prisoners. It’s about kids, families, and intergenerational trauma.

We call on the New Zealand Government to:
Immediately review and dismantle PERD, TNOC, and PERU regimes that prevent physical visits and family contact

Guarantee child-friendly visitation policies for all prisoners, including those under special management
Ensure all segregation practices align with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Mandela Rules
Invest in trauma-informed, family-inclusive prison policy reform

Sign this petition to give children back their right to connect with their parents.

Solitary confinement doesn’t just harm prisoners. It punishes families. It punishes children.

Let’s put humanity back into justice.