Article 39 is deeply troubled by yesterday’s High Court judgment, which allows the continued use of PAVA spray against children in prison. PAVA is a chemical incapacitant designed to cause extreme pain, disorientation and loss of control. That such a weapon can lawfully be used on children under the care of the government raises profound concerns about how far they are willing to go in the name of control, and how little weight is being given to children’s rights, safety and dignity.
Children in custody are among the most vulnerable in our society. Many have experienced trauma, loss, abuse and exclusion long before they enter the justice system, and many are disabled or have unmet mental health needs. The use of a pain-inducing weapon against children in this context cannot be separated from that reality. Nor can it be divorced from the fear it creates; fear for children themselves, and fear for parents, carers and loved ones who already live with the anguish of knowing their child is locked away, and now must worry that a force of this nature may be used against them.
We stand in solidarity with the Howard League for Penal Reform and others who have challenged this punitive policy. We were one of a group of organisations who repeatedly condemned the decision to introduce PAVA into children’s prisons, warning that this significant escalation in use of force would normalise violence. While the court has taken comfort from assurances that PAVA spray will be used only rarely and as a last resort, we are appalled – but sadly not surprised – to hear that the Howard League are already hearing directly from children and young people that this is not the case. A clear pattern is emerging; PAVA is not being used as an exceptional measure, but as an increasingly normalised response to incidents of distress and conflict. This gap between policy promises and lived reality should alarm everyone.
We are also gravely concerned about the disproportionate impact this policy is likely to have on Black children, Muslim children, and children with disabilities. These are the same groups who are already subject to higher levels of restraint, force and punishment across institutional settings. Any expansion or entrenchment of coercive powers against children risks reinforcing discrimination and deepening harm, rather than addressing the underlying causes of violence and distress.
This judgement does not mark the end of our opposition. Article 39 will continue to work with partners to challenge the use of weapons against children and to expose how force is used and governed in practice, not just on paper. We will continue to support children and young people affected by this policy, to listen carefully to their experiences, and to press for accountability wherever children’s rights are breached.
We will continue to argue that children’s prisons are beyond reform. Evidence shows a long record of successive government attempts to “fix” these institutions, each one failing, while conditions deteriorate and children are harmed. The government has lost control of these violent, unsafe and degrading establishments, yet, nearly 10 years after its promise to end ‘child imprisonment’ it has offered no credible vision or plan for change. Instead, it is now punishing children for its own failures: inflicting more violence on them with PAVA spray. This is an intolerable abdication of responsibility.
There must be urgent reforms to restrict the circumstances in which children can be deprived of their liberty, and a clear, time-limited strategy for the expedited closure of these institutions. Deprivation of liberty must be used only where it is demonstrably the only means of preventing serious and immediate harm, and only within caring, child-centred establishments that support children and their families in their own communities, rather than responding to vulnerability by inflicting further trauma and violence.
Contact:
Jodie Wickers
Article 39 Executive Director
Email: jodie.wickers@article39.org.uk
Notes
- The High Court’s judgment, dated 19 January 2025, can be found here.
- The End Child Imprisonment campaign, which Article 39 hosts, published Why child imprisonment is beyond reform: A review of the evidence in 2024, which traces a range of government pledges, reforms and key policy developments since the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to the present time.
- Article 39 was one of over 30 signatories of an open letter in July 2023, and a joint statement in April 2025, condeming the rollout of PAVA to Young Offender Institutions.
- The Howard League for Penal Reform’s statement can be found here.
