COH-AWH-What_Would_it_Take
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Provincial/Terr<strong>it</strong>orial Ministries Responsible for Justice<br />
1. Ensure all young people who ex<strong>it</strong> corrections (e<strong>it</strong>her the juvenile or adult systems) have<br />
immediate access to housing and supports to facil<strong>it</strong>ate reintegration, and that all young<br />
people are meaningfully supported to create a reintegration plan prior to ex<strong>it</strong>ing corrections.<br />
2. Collaborate w<strong>it</strong>h all youth-serving sectors and systems to create a safety strategy to reduce<br />
the risk of criminal victimization of youth who are homeless, establishing special mechanisms<br />
to address victimization comm<strong>it</strong>ted by police and organized criminal organizations.<br />
3. Increase access to free legal representation and legal outreach for youth experiencing<br />
homelessness or at risk of homelessness. Legal representatives should be qualified to provide<br />
legal support for the numerous issues this population often faces (e.g., unlawful eviction,<br />
workplace discrimination, sexual violence) and should employ a human rights approach.<br />
4. In sentencing young people who have experienced homelessness or poverty, judges and<br />
juries must take into consideration the socio-economic context w<strong>it</strong>hin which the crime was<br />
comm<strong>it</strong>ted. Alternatives to incarceration should be considered, particularly when young<br />
people engage in non-violent criminal activ<strong>it</strong>ies in order to survive (e.g., robbery).<br />
5. Restorative justice approaches must be considered in response to all Indigenous young<br />
people who come into contact w<strong>it</strong>h the criminal justice system.<br />
6. Increase the enforcement of laws against domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and sex<br />
trafficking, ensuring that survivors of this violence are provided w<strong>it</strong>h swift access to justice and<br />
safety. This must include establishing accountabil<strong>it</strong>y mechanisms in order to ensure that police<br />
officers follow appropriate protocols when responding to complaints of abuse, neglect, family<br />
conflict, domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and sex trafficking.<br />
7. Abolish laws that criminalize survival sex among young people at risk of homelessness or<br />
experiencing homelessness.<br />
WHAT WOULD IT TAKE? 134
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