SUMMARY

Many adolescents — especially those growing up in complex life contexts and those who come into contact with the juvenile justice system — often feel they lack spaces and opportunities to express their opinions, thoughts, and perspectives. At the same time, professionals working within the juvenile justice system frequently face difficulties in communicating and connecting with young people, whose languages, references, and values may differ significantly from institutional frameworks.

When a child or young person comes into contact with the justice system — whether criminal, civil, or administrative — they are confronted with a new environment shaped by rules and language far removed from their everyday experience. This can create confusion and make it difficult for them to understand and meaningfully participate in their own justice pathway.

Under these conditions, judicial proceedings risk being perceived solely as punitive experiences, rather than as opportunities for growth and change. This perception undermines the core purposes of juvenile justice and can negatively affect psychological wellbeing, self-esteem, trust in professionals, perceptions of fairness, and the ability to understand and accept decisions and measures taken.

Many young people experience juvenile justice as a system that does not fully listen to their needs or uphold their rights. This communicative distance risks weakening the educational and rehabilitative value of the process itself.

Rap Lab was created to strengthen the educational and rehabilitative dimension of justice measures involving children and young people through languages and methods they can genuinely understand and actively engage with, while enhancing their own resources and capacities.

Through this project, we promote a child-friendly justice approach that uses accessible and engaging forms of communication, reinforcing young people’s right to understand and participate in the processes affecting them.

Today, Rap Lab is an open space for all young people, fostering opportunities for connection and belonging through the creation of an environment perceived as “their own” — a welcoming and reliable point of reference within the local community.

Rap Lab promotes the concept of child-friendly justice as outlined in the Council of Europe Guidelines: a justice system that listens to, welcomes, and respects children and young people as active participants.

Rap music, creative writing, and autobiographical storytelling become tools for expression and shared reflection. The methodology combines autobiographical narration, creative writing, and music production. Through these activities, participants reflect on their experiences, express emotions and perspectives, and develop greater awareness of their rights.

The experience gained by Defence for Children in national and European contexts over recent years has enabled the organization to develop, test, and refine a rights-based methodology aimed at encouraging the direct participation of young people, who are too often given little space for expression, voice, and influence.

Over the past two years, the project has steadily grown and become a regular weekly appointment in the lives of participating young people. Alongside the workshops, the team continues working toward the project’s broader objectives by creating spaces, activities, and pathways with and for children and young people, both within and outside the systems responsible for implementing their rights.