6. COMPLAINT MECHANISMS AVAILABLE TO CHILDREN DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY 8 The last section of this Guide is devoted to a particular aspect, which should be of particular interest to monitoring bodies during their visits: complaints mechanisms available to children deprived of liberty. Accessible within the places depriving children of their liberty by the management, a specific staff member awarded the task, or through an external body (with a hotline); accessible to external bodies (independent or not) through (e)mails, mailbox, telephone or through other means of communication; that the complaint be formal or informal; individual or collective; written or oral; lodged by the child him/herself or through his/ her parents, guardians or representatives or through his/her lawyer. Complaints mechanisms are a fundamental guarantee of the respect of the rights of children deprived of their liberty. The reason why an entire section of this Guide is devoted to it is simple: accessible and safe complaints mechanisms available to children deprived of their liberty is an essential complementary mechanism to ensure respect for the rights of children deprived of liberty. In addition, we consider that if the right of children deprived of their liberty to complain was implemented efficiently and effectively, small violations, grievances and complaints could be identified and addressed at the earliest stage possible, allowing greater promotion of the rights of children and without a child having to wait until a monitoring visit takes place to raise a violation and to ask for redress. In practice, children deprived of their liberty can find it very difficult to make complaints either to internal or to external bodies. They are often expected to use complaints procedures that have been developed for use by adults and are not adapted to children’s capacity and development, age and degree of vulnerability. Children find themselves in an unfamiliar and sometimes hostile environment. They may be afraid to make a complaint out of fear of negative consequences of complaining against staff with whom they are in contact daily. They may be unaware that they have grounds for complaint and consider, for example, that the use of violence as a form of punishment is common and widespread practice. 8  Adapted from the PRI / IPJJ publication The right of children deprived of liberty to make complaints (2013) http://www. penalreform.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Briefing_child-complaints-v4_FINAL.pdf with permission from PRI 147 6