A growing collective of community leaders and advocates for the welfare of children and young people are calling on the Government to withdraw the Ram Raid Bill.

Introduced by the last Labour Government, the Ram Raid Bill would enable children to be criminialized, increasing the likelihood that children will be further harmed and creating pathways towards harmful behaviour in the future.

The collective, which first penned an open letter in 2023, is now preparing to deliver that letter and petition to parliament.

They are concerned that the Bill ignores what we know about how we prevent harm in our communities, while also violating the human rights of children. It is also out of step with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and fails to address the root causes that contribute to children causing harm in our communities.

The evidence consistently shows that young people and children who cause harm in our community are some of our most structurally marginalized and vulnerable.

These are children who have themselves first been harmed, who have experienced trauma, suffered abuse, been living in poverty, experiencing homelessness, housing insecurity, mental illness, addiction, who may have a disability, and whose whānau are dealing with the impact of social exclusion and generational trauma.

Instead of pushing forward with this flawed bill, the collective is calling for all political parties to withdraw their support for the bill and instead to work together to develop a bi-partisan, evidence-based approach to address the concerns within the community. They are urging all political parties to work together to develop responses grounded in justice, which will empower and strengthen our communities.

The group has invited all political leaders to join them on the steps of parliament at 12pm on the 26th June to receive their petition and open letter, and to kōrero about a way forward.

If your organization would like to sign their name to the petition and open letter, please reach out to Aaron Hendry on ajhendry@kickbackmakechange.org, or Aisling Carney on communications@arataiohi.org.nz

Current organizational Signatories:

Amnesty International Aotearoa New Zealand

Ara Taiohi, peak body for youth development in Aotearoa

Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW)

Barnardos Aotearoa

Canterbury Howard League for Penal Reform

Community Law Centres of Aotearoa

Dr. Enys Delmage, Consultant in Adolescent Forensic Psychiatry

Dr. Luke Fitzmaurice-Brown

FASD-CAN

Family for Every Child

JustSpeak

Korowai Tupu, professional association for Youth Work in Aotearoa

Kick Back

MANA 2022 INC.

NZCCSS

Pillars Ka Pou Whakahou

People Against Prisons Aotearoa

START

Save the Children

VOYCE - Whakarongo-Mai

Wellington Howard League

YouthLaw Aotearoa

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