Workers at SENAME correctional facility go on strike to demand higher security measures

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SANTIAGO.- Workers at the SENAME Behavioral Corrections Center, "Tiempo Joven", began a 48-hour strike this morning to demand that higher security measures be taken inside the facility.

According to Víctor Martínez, the president of the association of SENAME workers, the demonstration seeks to have prison guards placed inside the precinct to control acts of violence between the young prisoners and against prison personnel.

The violence stems from the fact that the institution can only reinforce the perimeter of the SENAME centers and cannot enter them, which is why prison officials, who are in charge of educating and socializing the young convicts have to intervene in fights that break out between them, and have even become victims of attacks themselves.

Due to the strike, police have instated a group of officers to guard the perimeter at the center and prevent the prisoners from escaping from the facility.