CRINMAIL 1305
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Observance of three international days
World AIDS Day
The 1st December marked World AIDS Day, whose aim is to raise awareness of AIDS caused by the spread of the HIV infection, how HIV is transmitted, how it can be prevented, and the reality of living with HIV today. The following are just some of the issues related to HIV and AIDS that CRIN has given coverage to.
We have come across a number of cases showing how children who are HIV-positive face discrimination and obstacles to accessing basic services, such as education, due to a lack of awareness about the virus on the part of school authorities. In India, for example, more than 60 children were reported to have been denied admission to schools in various states in the last four years because they were HIV positive. Meanwhile in Kazakhstan, one school expelled two students after finding out they have HIV.
But a similar case in the United States confirmed that people with HIV do not in fact represent a risk to others in casual settings, such as a school, after a federal court charged a private school with discrimination after it denied admission to a boy because he was HIV-positive, and deemed to be a "direct threat" to the health and safety of other students. Full story.
Stigma also remains high in Nepal, where HIV-positive orphans whose parents have died from AIDS face neglect from relatives. In one case, a five-year-old boy died of exposure after being made to sleep in the bar because his relatives feared he would infect them. Full story.
Meanwhile harmful traditional practices exist based on the myth that having sex with a virgin girl can cure HIV. In what is still a widely accepted practice within some communities, many girls are raped or forced to marry older men who have been widowed by HIV. The girls inevitably end up getting infected also. Read more about this practice in South Africa here.
Further Information:
International Day for the Abolition of Slavery
The 2nd December marks the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, whose aim is to raise awareness about and eradicate contemporary forms of slavery, including trafficking, sexual exploitation, forced marriage, the worst forms of child labour, and the recruitment of children in armed conflict.
A recent study, for example, found that in the last four years in Colombia, 18,000 children were forced to join guerrilla and paramilitary groups, which recruit children to do their "dirty work", including installing landmines, transporting explosives and kidnapping. While the majority of these children has traditionally been boys, the number of kidnapped girls has risen dramatically in recent years, with girls now accounting for 43 per cent of all child recruits. Full story.
Meanwhile in Suriname, children work in mines in which they face mercury exposure, extreme heat and the risk of being crushed, a report said earlier this year. Child prostitution in mining camps is also said to take place. Despite these concerns, the country has no list of activities considered to be dangerous to children. Full story.
Compelled by poverty and destitution, parents in Benin send their children to work in neighbouring countries at an ever-younger age at the hands of smugglers in the hope that they will bring in money and be one less mouth to feed. These children, however, end up working in dangerous environments such as in quarries breaking stones or diving underwater to collect sand to sell for making cement. More on the situation here.
On the occasion of the Day, UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Ms Gulnara Shahinian drew on the nexus between bondage and forced marriage, saying that victims experience sometimes daily human rights violations such as domestic servitude and sexual slavery and other forms of violence. And "[l]ike with all forms of slavery, in order to tackle this problem head-on, servile marriages should be criminalised,” she said, while emphasising that criminalisation should go hand-in-hand with programmes to raise awareness and help detect cases, as well as provide advice, rehabilitation and shelter to victims. Full story.
Further Information:
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International Day of Persons with Disabilities
The 3rd December marked the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, with this year's theme being: "removing barriers to create an inclusive and accessible society for all". The main focus of the Day is to highlight progress and obstacles in this area. The following are just some cases CRIN has covered recently in relation to children with disabilities.
In Ukraine, studies have revealed that many families who have children with special needs cannot afford adequate health care and rehabilitation, while accessibility is also lacking, as hospitals and social security offices do not all have wheelchair ramps. Full story.
In Russia, children with autism and their families face stereotypes and intolerance, with social stigmas sometimes even shared by doctors, as a vast amount of "propaganda" about autism makes them treat autistic children as if they are diseased. Full story.
In some areas of Togo, where there are an estimated 378,000 children with disabilities, "[d]isability is considered a form of sorcery or the result of a demon in the family”, and parents often keep their children indoors out of fear, shame and traditional beliefs. Only a small percentage of children with disabilities attend school and far fewer receive adequate inclusive education, according to UNICEF. Full story.
In Kyrgyzstan, most children with disabilities are funnelled into "special schools", often at the request of teachers and doctors, despite parents' fear that doing so will make it more difficult for their children to obtain equality education and become well-equipped for their own social and professional development. Full story.
Many people with disabilities in Ghana, including children, are forced to live in prayer camps associated with Pentecostal churches and managed by self-proclaimed prophets, where medical treatment is shunned in favour of spiritual healing and people are chained to trees and denied food and water as part of a "healing process". Full story.
Meanwhile the United States has failed to secure its place as the 127th nation to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, despite becoming a signatory back in 2009. More on the story.
See if your country has ratified the Convention here.
Further Information:
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CHILDREN'S RIGHTS WIKI: Spotlight on Albania
In this week's Children's Rights Wiki, we look at the persistent violations of children's rights in Albania: http://wiki.crin.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Albania
- High rates of infant mortality and malnutrition;
- Crimes committed under the guise of customary law, particularly "blood feuds";
- Trafficking of children;
- Discrimination against children from Roma communities;
- Child labour, including in hazardous conditions;
- Domestic violence;
- Inadequate education provision;
- Harmful traditional practices relating to marriage, including early marriage;
- Inadequate and unequal provision of health care;
- Discrimination or inadequate services for migrant children;
- Corporal punishment;
- Inadequate response to HIV and AIDS;
- Inadequate birth registration;
- Sexual abuse of children and inadequate laws on such abuse;
- Insufficient provision for children deprived of a family environment.
For more information on these persistent violations, click here.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Juvenile justice: Policing and children
Organisation: Howard League for Penal Reform
Date: 6 December 2012
Location: Birmingham, United Kingdom
More details here.
Belarus: IV International Conference 'Safe Belarus for Children'
Organisation: INGO Ponimanie
Date: 11–13 December 2012
Location: Minsk, Belarus
More details here.
Maltreatment: International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment
Organisation: Chadwick Center for Children & Families
Date: 26–31 January 2013
Location: San Diego, California, United States
More details here.
Europe: European Youth Foundation reloaded - it all starts with You(th)
Organisation: European Youth Foundation
Date: 4–6 February 2013
Location: Strasbourg, France
More details here.
Education: International Conference on Inclusive Education
Organisation: Asian Centre for Inclusive Education
Date: 15–17 February 2013
Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh
More details here.
Call for applications: Masters programmes in Early Childhood
Organisation: University of Plymouth
Start date: September 2013
Location: Plymouth, United Kingdom
More details here.
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EMPLOYMENT
Plan International: Child Rights Policy Officer
Location: Woking, Surrey
Application deadline: 21 December 2012
More details here.
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Good News
CRIN welcomes news that the mandate of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence Against Children has been extended for three more years!
The extension came with the adoption last week by the UN General Assembly of the Omnibus Resolution on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of the Child, which also provides that to sustain the core activities of the mandate, and to ensure its effective performance, it shall be funded from the regular budget starting at the biennium 2014-2015.
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