While Universal Children’s Day on 20 November is a day of celebration - and more so in 2014 as it marks the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - it also reminds us that children’s rights continue to be violated the world over. In this week’s CRINmail, we have therefore decided to mark the 25th anniversary of the CRC by looking at 25 new or neglected issues in children’s rights advocacy. We start off the list with five issues which demonstrate the long way children’s rights have to go before children are recognised as full and independent human rights holders. Later, and in no particular order, we look at 20 other children’s rights issues as a sample of those which require greater attention.

1. Age discrimination

If asked to think about age discrimination, most of us would probably think of ageism towards seniors. Less readily thought of, but of equal - yet neglected - concern, is discrimination against children because of their young age. In most countries worldwide, children are excluded and often banned from taking part in certain activities to which adults have access. For instance, arbitrary age limits, which are based on the presumed immaturity of all under-18s, limit children’s civil participation. For instance they may not be allowed to attend a public meeting or join an association. Meanwhile national anti-discrimination policies generally do not refer to children as subjects of age discrimination -- itself proof that children are rarely seen as such. Finally, “status offences”, that is, acts that would not be criminal if committed by adults (e.g. violations of curfews and antisocial behaviour orders, running away, and even simple disobedience) show that a status offender's conduct is considered unacceptable not because it is harmful, but solely on the basis of age.

2. Minimum ages

The Convention on the Rights of the Child is unwavering in the need to set minimum ages for certain issues, for instance it prohibits capital punishment for all under-18s.  But it leaves States to determine minimum ages in other areas, such as the right to vote. In other areas where it is difficult to balance children’s right to protection with their right to make decisions about their own lives (e.g. sexual consent and marriage), the Convention encourages a more flexible approach, which recognises children’s capacities, not just their age. But in areas where children’s protection is at risk (such as in the justice system), maximum protection should be sought for all children under the age of 18. Yet in other areas where minimum ages would restrict children’s autonomy (such as the right to vote), children’s capacities should be encouraged.

3. The 'discipline' excuse for assault

Being able to lead a life free from all forms of violence determines whether a child, and indeed any person, can fully enjoy and exercise their human rights. Despite the instinctive awareness that being subjected to violence affects the development, wellbeing and survival of a person, many States continue to sanction corporal punishment in the name of discipline against their most vulnerable citizens - an action that may in fact amount to criminal assault if perpetrated against an adult. That States justify an exception to a form of violence that would otherwise be illegal illustrates how violence against children is ingrained in societies and often accepted as the norm. Children are especially vulnerable to violence on account of their age, and very young children in particular have a lack of knowledge of their own rights and an inability to speak up for and defend themselves. But what sheds an additional sinister light on the issue is that the violence is sanctioned by adults - lawmakers tasked with representing the best interests of their country’s people, including children; and perpetrated at the hands of adults responsible for children’s care, including parents, teachers and others in positions of trust.

4. Self determination and bodily integrity

The concept of bodily integrity sums up the right of each human being, including children, to autonomy and self-determination over their own body, and it considers an unconsented intrusion or invasion as a human rights violation. Children are especially vulnerable to practices that amount to violations of bodily integrity, as these are usually performed on people at a very young age when they are unable to speak up for and defend themselves, or give - or refuse - consent. Practices range from seemingly innocuous acts like piercing a baby girl’s ears to more invasive procedures like surgery performed on children’s genitals. These include female genital mutilation, non-medical male circumcision, “corrective” surgery performed on intersex children, and sterilisation of people with learning disabilities. Sometimes, surgeries are botched or complications arise, which can result in permanent injury and even death. But the implications of these practices go beyond the physical, as they also infringe children’s civil rights, including their right to informed consent and to express their views and opinions freely and for them to be taken into account in any matter or procedure affecting the child. In cases where the surgery is carried out to conform to social expectations or based on adults’ - not the child’s - religion, culture or tradition, it also amounts to a violation of children’s rights.
 

5. Access to justice

One of the major reasons children are prevented from fully enjoying their human rights are obstacles they face in accessing justice. Due to their lack of independence and full legal standing in societies in most countries, children are not always able to pursue remedies for violations of their human rights. For instance, they are generally prevented by law from bringing court cases by themselves and in their own names, instead being required to have an adult legal representative. They also often need to have parental consent before proceedings can be brought in the first place, making a child’s pursuit of redress exclusively dependent on adults’ permission and disposition. Nevertheless in these cases, a child's chosen or appointed representative must act on the child's views and in the child's best interests, and not pose a conflict of interests that would interfere with his or her duties to the child.

Another common obstacle to accessing justice is the time-barring of complaints through statutes of limitations. These place a time limit on initiating legal action after an event has taken place; and once a statute of limitation expires, a claim can no longer be filed. In some cases, time limitations are unduly restrictive, as some begin running before a child has reached adulthood, even if children in a given country lack legal standing to file complaints themselves. Specifically in relation to complaints of child sex abuse, there is also debate that these should not be time-barred in any way. This practice is not only insensitive to the reality of the survivors of child sex abuse, who can take an indefinite amount of years to report the abuse; it also denies victims the chance to pursue accountability and redress once they are ready to do so. In some instances, courts have dismissed abuse lawsuits not because of a lack of evidence, but purely based on the technicality that is an expired time limit. 

6. Life imprisonment

Huge strides have been taken to combat extreme and violent sentencing of children in the criminal justice system. The death penalty is now an incredibly rare punishment for children, but in its place many States have introduced life sentences. Life imprisonment sentences cover a diverse range of practices, from the most severe form of life without parole in which a person is sentenced to die in prison, to more indeterminate sentences in which at the time of sentencing it is not clear how long a sentenced person will spend in prison. What all of these sentences have in common is that at the time the sentence is passed, a person is liable to be detained for the rest of his or her natural life. The practice exposes the punitive nature of imprisonment, which flies in the face of juvenile justice and its objective to rehabilitate offenders. Children should only ever be deprived of their liberty if they pose an immediate threat to public security, and detention should be for the shortest possible time. A life sentence is the most punitive form of detention available, and it cannot possibly be detention as a last resort or for the shortest necessary time.  

7. Child labour and working children

Not all working children perform activities that can be defined as child labour. Yet there is the dominant view that all child work is somehow problematic. Prohibition should indeed target activities that affect children’s health and personal development or interfere with their schooling. But imposing a blanket ban on all child work without addressing the economic conditions which push children to work in the first place, leaves open the possibility that children will only go back to performing the same labour activities, and risk becoming part of the illegal economy where abuse and exploitation are widespread. On account of this, some experts argue that in countries where it is a given that children will work - and until the structures that drive children to work change - it is more beneficial for children if governments formalise and regulate their labour activities (so long as they are not dangerous, harmful or hazardous or interfere with their education) in order to grant them the same labour and rights protections as their adult counterparts. What’s more, as the issue directly affects working children, there is also the need to consider what working children want themselves. Taking into account the views of child workers’ unions, for example, allows for recognition of children’s agency and the right to be heard and have a say in policies that will impact them.

8. Freedom of religion

Existing international human rights treaties assert “everyone’s” freedom of religious belief, and everyone includes children. Despite this, children routinely face the imposition of religious views at an impressionable age when they are easily influenced due to a lack of critical ability. For instance, in some countries of a religious majority, school textbooks have been used in attempts of religious indoctrination, which experts say breeds discrimination and violence against believers of minority religions or atheists, including children. Indoctrination, forced conversion or any assumption that children will grow up to follow a given religion or belief system is incompatible with children’s independent freedom to decide their own beliefs and to choose a religion or no religion. Meanwhile some religions are seen to require children to be submitted to religious rites, including invasive practices, at an age when they are too young to give or deny consent. The Convention on the Rights of the Child makes clear that the role and duty of adults, namely parents, is to provide “direction” to their children, meaning that parents can introduce children to their faith and bring their children with them to participate in religious activities, but children must increasingly be given control over their own involvement in their parents' or any other religion. 

9. Conflicting rights in health care

Children’s rights have been challenged or undermined in suspected cases of conflicting rights. Tensions arise between parents' religious beliefs and children's right to health in cases of so-called “faith healing” where parents refuse potentially life-saving medical interventions for their children based on religious grounds. Hospitals have challenged the refusal of medical treatment, even if it is a child who is refusing the treatment, or if alternative treatments sought are against the hospital’s advice but in the best interests of a child. In the latter case, there is the view that rather than being a conflict of rights between two parties, the conflict is in fact between different rights of the child, namely the right to self-determination and to be heard, and their right to health. Ultimately, however, in presumed cases of conflicting rights involving a child, children’s best interests and respect for all their rights insofar as is realistically possible should be the primary consideration.

10. Overmedication of children

Children’s right to health not only includes access to medical care, but access to the appropriate kind of care, be it medical, psychological or otherwise. In some countries, however, children's use of prescription drugs has grown faster than any other age group in recent years, with little consideration of the long- and short-term effects of such an approach to treatment. This is particularly the case for children diagnosed with behavioural difficulties who are routinely given powerful cocktails of prescription drugs. One of the reasons for this is simple marketing, as drug companies have saturated the adult market, so have moved their attention to the new - and profitable - market that is children. However, health experts say that while the work of drug companies is guided by science, it is not the only science. Unfortunately, research into alternative therapies, such as behavioural therapy, special diets, and the benefits of outdoor activities, all of which have yielded positive results, is not as prominent or heavily funded as the work of drug companies.

11. Impact of advertising

Commercial advertising is nowadays present in all sorts of media, including TV, websites, billboards, magazines and even clothing. Children are particularly susceptible to the impact of advertising, which can - maybe inadvertently - promote detrimental behaviours, attitudes and stereotypes. Teen magazines, for example, have been at the centre of debate over the sexualisation of children, namely girls. So have cosmetic firms and clothing companies which now target children with their advertising. While regulating the content of commercial advertising is one consideration, the issue also highlights the need to help children to think critically about the information they are exposed to. This idea also extends to the impact of charity advertising, and how it moulds society’s view of children and childhood. For instance, it is not uncommon for charities to use images of starving children, which represent them merely as victims of circumstance and subjects of charity, as opposed to human rights holders. This practice fails to take a more informative rights-focused approach that would educate viewers on why children’s rights are violated all over the world in the first place.

12. Quality of food

Malnutrition is responsible for 45 percent of all deaths of children under five. It can cause irreversible damage to children's physical and mental health, and has implications for the full spectrum of children's rights. But the right to food is not just about averting starvation - individuals also require adequate nutrition in order to live a healthy life. This right is increasingly under threat as diets of grains and vegetables give way to diets high in sugar and fats. For children this has lead to a steep rise in obesity and related diseases, particularly in urban areas - a situation the World Health Organization (WHO) has described as a public health crisis. Obesity is often perceived as a result of lifestyle choices, but many other factors are at play: inescapable commercial advertising for junk food - including in schools, and agricultural policies dominated by corporate interests which have encouraged the consumption of unhealthy, processed foods by lowering their prices. Far from being a disease of the rich, obesity is a sign of poor nutrition. In 2013 the WHO estimated the number of overweight children under five to be over 42 million, 31 million of whom lived in developing countries.

13. Right to a clean environment

Children, like any other person, face the devastating consequences of industrial accidents and exploitation of the environment. Although the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) does not specifically address children's right to a clean environment, it is clear that pollution and destruction of habitat have a particular impact on children's lives and violate countless provisions of the CRC, including their most basic right to survival and development and "the highest attainable standard of health". What’s more, the effects of oil spills, nuclear explosions, illegal waste disposal, and destruction of rainforests, among others, persist for generations. Of particular relevance here is the concept of intergenerational equity, that is, the fair distribution of resources between present and future generations. In one landmark case from the Philippines, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of children’s right to a clean environment and, notably, of a justiciable intergenerational responsibility to maintain a clean environment, meaning that each generation has a responsibility to their children, their children’s children, and all future generations to preserve the environment.

14. Children’s rights in the family

‘Family’ is a social institution that is often viewed as a single unit, rather than as being made up of individuals. Consequently, the independent rights of individual members of families are sometimes overridden in favour of family interests. This is particularly the case with proposals on the "protection of the family", which are concerned more with an image of family rather than a family’s responsibilities, in particular to children. From a children’s rights perspective, family is an arrangement that provides care, nurture and development. And nowadays, children’s experience of family varies between cultural, political and social systems, with each presenting a multitude of family structures that have emerged in response to social change, urbanisation, conflict, disease and other circumstances. While the majority of families want the best for their children and play a key role in their upbringing, children's rights can be and have been violated within families, including by family members. In such cases, States must fulfil their legal obligation to ensure children’s rights are respected, protected and fulfilled in all settings, including within and outside families.

15. Children’s right to know their origins

Children have the right, as far as possible, to know their parents. This raises complicated questions in today’s world in which an increasing number of children’s legal parents are different to their biological parents. The idea of ‘the right to know one’s origins’ is not new - it was originally developed in relation to adoptions. And this remains relevant today, particularly in some jurisdictions which continue to allow ‘closed adoptions’ in which adoption records are off limits.  But advances in modern assisted reproductive medicine and practices such as surrogacy, anonymous birth and so-called ‘baby boxes’ now pose an even bigger challenge for States in determining policies on children’s right to know their parents. In most countries, children’s right to know their parents (a major part of developing their identity) is not sufficiently protected. In some situations, records are kept but access to them is denied to children (or adults when they reach the age of majority); in other cases, records are non-existent. As a result, children are condemned to life-long ignorance about their origins. There may be some instances in which a child’s right to know their origins conflicts with a parent’s right to privacy, but as a minimum, all children should be able to access at least non-identifying medical information about their parents.

16. Social orphans

While orphans have no living parents, social orphans have no adults looking after them, even though one or more of their parents is still alive. Social orphanhood can be the result of children being removed from families because of parental alcoholism, drug use or neglect, or simply because parents - including single parents - or carers lack the necessary state support to care for a child, including children with special needs. Consequently in some regions, particularly in parts of Eastern Europe and Asia, many social orphans are living in institutional care, where they are at risk of serious abuse and neglect, in particular children with disabilities. Experts advise against a culture of institutionalisation because it harms children’s long-term development. For instance, social orphans who eventually leave state care can experience great difficulties in adapting to life outside of an institution, including difficulty in finding rented accommodation or employment. Deinstitutionalisation programmes are in progress in some countries, with children being transferred to foster homes and community-based care. But there has been criticism that such programmes are currently not inclusive of children with disabilities. 

17. Sex education for children with disabilities

Education and health experts around the world are increasingly calling for sex education to be made a mandatory part of school curricula. However, such proposals do not include education catered to children with disabilities. This reflects the prevailing misconception that people with disabilities, including learning difficulties such as autism and Down’s syndrome, are devoid of sexual feelings or the ability to have a relationship or raise children. Further worrying is that families of children with disabilities who worry about unwanted pregnancies and sexual abuse are routinely advised in some countries to surgically sterilise their children, which advocates say amounts to forced sterilisation and in fact helps to hide the outcomes of sexual abuse. Instead, the solution, they say, is to uphold the right of children with disabilities to access information by providing them with sex education catered to their needs and abilities. They stress that more attention must be given to education that helps children with disabilities to understand their own bodies and the changes that occur when maturing, as well as learn about relationships, sexual health, contraception, reproduction, abuse prevention, and the consequences of sterilisation.

18. Children’s rights online

With digital media having become an inextricable component of people’s daily lives, especially for children and young people, access to digital media is increasingly viewed as a fundamental human right. But children’s rights online are not new rights; rather, existing rights situated in a digital context - a context which has raised a myriad of new questions. These relate to censorship, which is sometimes imposed intentionally, while in other cases it is the result of a genuine desire to protect children, yet blanket internet filters and the lack of transparency in what makes certain information harmful nevertheless violates their rights. Encroachment on children’s right to privacy is also routine, with related concerns including cases of schools spying on pupils via their laptop cameras, and parents monitoring and controlling their children’s online activities. Furthermore, it should not be forgotten that children are not only recipients of information, but also producers of content, and online communication is an important tool for building relationships, learning and free expression.

19. Quality of education

The quality of children’s education is just as important as access to and funding for schools. Good quality education should enable children to develop their skills, interests and understanding of their rights and contribute to the development of their communities. It can determine children’s performance in school, their employment opportunities in later life and all-round development and self-esteem. Aspects of the issue include whether teachers are adequately trained and qualified. Tenure laws that keep teachers in school posts regardless of the quality of their teaching have been challenged in this respect. Children of minorities face particular disadvantages in the quality of the education they receive. Roma children in Europe, for example, face exclusion from mainstream schools as they are routinely placed in special needs schools even if they do not have learning difficulties. The issue also relates to classroom materials, in particular that textbooks should provide objective and accurate information from a variety of sources. Some States, however, have been found to use textbooks to impose their political or religious ideology on schoolchildren, to encourage discrimination against women and minorities, and to give biased accounts of historical events. 

20. Children’s rights at sea

When a rights violation occurs within a country’s territory, accountability and redress can be pursued within that territory. But when abuses are perpetrated in areas of ill-defined or disputed borders, such as in international waters, whose jurisdiction does it fall under? The blurred boundaries that is the open sea indeed make it a lawless place, which some countries have taken advantage of at the expense of people travelling through it. For instance, migrant boats carrying children have been intercepted at sea, with their occupants held in international waters to stop them from reaching land and a given country from incurring their obligations under international refugee law. Another issue situated in the seas and oceans is children’s involvement in sea - or maritime - piracy. Advocates on the issue highlight that there are no legal instruments currently in place which set out child-friendly regulations on the apprehension, detention, interview and transfer of children recruited as maritime pirates. Nor do naval and security personnel receive formal training on child-friendly practices in relation to interactions with children at sea.

21. Urbanisation

Globally the urban population is increasing by 60 million people a year, 60 percent of whom are children. But the growth in population is leaving improvements in infrastructure and sanitation behind. This intensifies existing violations of children's rights, including the barriers to health, survival and development that come with overcrowding and a lack of basic services and leading to the concept of "fragile cities”. But it is not only basic services which are at stake, children's right to play is stifled as safe outdoor space shrinks and a lack of road safety provisions make traffic accidents one of the leading causes of death among young people. In addition, the increased demand on resources and greater visibility of inequality has lead to increased social tension, violence and discrimination. Children (usually the most marginalised) in particular find their rights battered from all directions: they are the subject of State measures to curtail their use of public space - on the basis of their own protection or because of perceived fears of criminality; on the other hand, they are the target of recruitment and intimidation by gangs. In short, children are in a no-win situation. 

22. Privatisation of basic services

In the context of austerity, children's services, from schools to healthcare, are increasingly subject to privatisation. All too often, such arrangements are not properly regulated by the State, leading to the dominance of commercial interests over children's rights. Furthermore, when those who work with children are beholden to the interests of a company, who then acts as children's advocate? It is the obligation of a State to ensure that all private actors which play a role in the provision of basic services are accountable, and that they meet minimum standards as defined by the State. 

23. Mental health detention

Although detention of a person on the basis of mental health is not an issue that is exclusive to children, when children are detained for this reason it brings up child-specific considerations. International law prohibits the use of disability - including mental disability - as a ground for deprivation of liberty. When children are detained for this reason in the civil justice setting (i.e. where no criminal offence has been committed), it all too often constitutes arbitrary detention. What’s more, the requirement for a periodic review often does not apply to children detained on mental health grounds and sometimes does not apply to children where it would apply to adults. Where involuntary detention is justified as “treatment” or for a person’s “own safety”, such cases constitute a paternalistic act carried out regardless of consent and without consideration of a child’s capacity -- or, generally, a person’s mental capacity. But in accordance with the concept of children’s evolving capacities, if a child has the capacity to make decisions about their care, then respect for their views may determine how they ought to be treated, and informed consent should be obtained. Where a child lacks capacity to consent, any decision concerning the child must be made in the best interests of the child. 

24. Strategic litigation

More attention should be paid to children’s rights issues, but also to certain under-used forms of advocacy. Litigation can be a powerful tool to challenge rights violations and when the case is chosen well, it can have an impact well beyond the individual and confront pervasive and entrenched injustices. But bringing a human rights case to court is not a simple process. Layers of complexity are built into the legal system making it difficult for anyone to navigate, but particularly so for children. This is why children's rights litigation is perhaps less well developed than for other areas of human rights and why there is a particular role for children's rights organisations, advocates and lawyers to support and enable children to enforce their rights. Strategic litigation has successfully ended the death penalty for children in the United States, held the Irish State accountable for its failure to protect children from sexual abuse in religious schools, and provided redress for vast numbers of child labourers in India. Used strategically, children's rights litigation can trigger huge leaps forward in the protection of children's rights.

25. Keep the discussion going

As changes continue to occur in our societies, what impact will future global developments have on children’s rights? For instance, will the normalisation of space travel raise questions about the right to oxygen? Or will artificial intelligence be protected from wire tampering before children are protected from physical punishment? Improbabilities aside, this issue not only entails keeping abreast of such developments, but also of whether they give rise to new areas of children’s rights. While the present list of issues is a sample of some neglected areas of children's rights, it is also a reminder that the Convention on the Rights of the Child is an evolving document which, as children's rights advocates, we have a responsibility to keep re-reading to ask how it applies to new questions facing children.

Save the Children Sweden: Country Director for Sudan
Location: Khartoum, Sudan
Application deadline: 12 December 2014