The “dirty dozen” comprise the following: 1.

Daily physical contact of under-trial juveniles with

convicted ones, which facilitates the transfer of non-physical yet damaging modes of attitudes and
behaviour; 2. Emotional agony of uncertainty of outcome and the unpredictable date for conclusion of
trial; 3. However considerate and kind some individual jail staff members may be, the overall deficit in
the capacity of jail staff to attend to the special needs of children and respect the nuances of their
individual personalities; 4. Vulnerability to addictive habits through access to drugs and narcotics
smuggled into jails by corrupt staff for adult prisoners next door; 5. Exposure to possible sexual child
abuse or simply ugly violence; 6. Loss of priceless time of normal schooling and education; 7. Lack of
regular, specialist psychological counselling; 8. The physical hardship and ill-health suffered because of
poor infrastructure and hygiene e.g. in toilets; 9. Malnutrition, making the child more prone to stunting,
a permanently afflictive condition estimated to affect millions of children living outside jails as well; 10.
The fears about the social stigma that awaits them post-release; 11. Despite facilities and schedules that
allow private time, the absence of the joys and thrills of play, of games and sports partaken in and freely
celebrated; and 12. Perhaps the most potentially lethal aspect: vulnerability to indoctrination and brain-
washing into violent extremism, with religion often used to promote religiosity and intolerance, a
condition that could then crystallise and worsen soon after release.