“The implementation of the SRPA [Criminal Responsibility System for Adolescents in 2006] increased crime overall and recomposed crime participation among age groups, prompting children below [age] 14 to engage more in criminal activities,” claimed the study.
One fundamental problem is that there are less risks associated with committing crime for children under the age of 14, but also less of an incentive for police to apprehend them. In theory, the police are supposed to contact the Colombian Institute for Family Well Being (ICBF) when they apprehend a child under the age of 14, but in practice this has not been happening, according to the research.
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Criminal gangs have not remained unaware of the changes, either.
“What we found is that after this law was put in place and the restorative justice system should have been implemented, children below 14 years of age are dropping out of school, with a higher [frequency],” said the professor.