More female juveniles than males appeared before Jamaican courts last year

Last year, 653 of the 1,194 juveniles who appeared in Jamaican courts were female, accounting for 54.7 percent of the total. The primary reasons for these appearances were 'care and protection,' cited in 55.5 percent of cases, followed by 'uncontrollable' juveniles at 20.0 percent.

Additional statistics from the 2025 edition of the Economic and Social Survey Jamaica, published by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), indicate that 178 juveniles were held in correctional centers in 2025, a slight increase from the previous year's 177. The South Camp Juvenile Correctional and Remand Centre, a maximum security facility, housed the largest number of juveniles with 73 inmates. It remains the sole facility for females.

Other facilities include the Rio Cobre Juvenile Correction Centre, a maximum and medium facility for males, which had 33 inmates, and the Metcalfe Street Secure Juvenile Remand Centre, a maximum male institution, holding 72 inmates in 2025. The survey also noted that 6.0 percent of juvenile appearances were on charges of 'assault occasioning bodily harm,' with 'all other' cases making up 18.4 percent.