Abuse by design? Doctors fight the introduction of spit hoods in youth detention
An adult putting a hood on a child would trigger a mandatory notification in any other circumstance because of the trauma inflicted, Dr Catherine Boyd said.
Two months ago, paediatrician Dr Catherine Boyd and 44 of her colleagues wrote to the NT Government warning against its plans to reinstate spit hoods in youth detention.
The Chief Minister told them to stick to their day job.
Lia Finocchiaro suggested paediatricians were wasting their time by writing to her: “They can do their job, which is to look after sick children. I have to regularly look mothers in the eye who, like me, cannot get in to see one.”
Many of the letter’s signatories were working in the NT back in 2016, when Four Corners aired an investigation into spit hoods and other uses of force in the NT’s youth detention centres.Â
