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LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS

European watchdog rules on corporal punishment

A European human rights watchdog has ruled that Ireland, Slovenia, Belgium and the Czech Republic are failing to protect children from violence because their laws do not fully ban all corporal punishment of children. The ruling comes in response to a series of complaints – submitted under the collective complaints procedure by the Association for the Protection of All Children (APPROACH) - claiming that the States were not complying with their obligations under the European Social Charter, which requires Member States to protect children and young people from violence. Corporal punishment of children remains lawful in the family home in all four States. In Ireland, it is also lawful in foster care, residential care settings and some child-minding services. Meanwhile in Slovenia, Belgium and the Czech Republic it is lawful in some or all alternative care and daycare settings, and the Czech Republic also lacks explicit prohibition in institutions for children in conflict with the law. “We hope that the decisions will encourage governments in these [S]tates to take immediate action to reform their laws to afford children legal protection from all violent punishment, in the family home and elsewhere,” said Peter Newell, Coordinator of the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children.

Also read a new briefing on progress towards prohibition in EU countries. 

Sexual abuse prevention & cover-ups

The Kenyan government and the country’s main teachers union - which is responsible for recruiting teachers and issuing disciplinary actions - has failed to protect schoolchildren from sexual abuse, the High Court has ruled. The ruling comes in relation to a case in which two female students were sexually abused by their teacher, who had been allowed to transfer from another school after facing allegations of sexual assault there. The petition noted that the girls were not given psychological assistance or health care, their case was dismissed by the District Education Officer, and the teacher in question was allowed to continue working for four months after the case was first reported. In the High Court decision, the judge agreed that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and government officials had inadequately handled the case and ordered them to provide financial reparation to the two girls. The judge also noted that the TSC “cannot shuffle paedophiles from one school to another, and finally, content itself with dismissals.” A 2009 study found that hundreds of Kenyan schoolgirls have been sexually abused by their teachers, with many of the abusers facing minor or no consequences. 

The Canadian Supreme Court has ruled that adults who record sex acts with children for private use cannot claim to have obtained a child’s consent as a way of avoiding prosecution. The move comes in response to a case in which a judge in Alberta had acquitted two men of charges for making sex videos with two drug-addicted, 14-year-old runaways in 2008 because the girls were believed to have consented, participated in and even initiated some of the activities. But the Supreme Court dismissed the Alberta ruling because it failed "to consider whether the underlying relationship between the girls and the accused was exploitative,” and therefore a new trail would be needed. Even though at the time of the recordings the age of legal sexual consent in Canada was 14 years old, the Supreme Court judges said that sex with a minor who has reached the age of consent cannot be lawful if it involves a relationship of trust, authority or dependency. They said the new trial would need to look at the age difference, the evolution of the relationship and the older person’s degree of control or influence over the younger one. 

The Methodist Church in the United Kingdom has publicly apologised after an independent inquiry uncovered reports of 1,885 cases of abuse, including sexual abuse against children. The Church commissioned the review, which looked at its response to complaints and allegations dating back to 1950. Reports include cases of alleged sexual, physical, emotional and domestic abuse, as well as cases of neglect. Allegations of sexual abuse formed the largest number of cases, with alleged perpetrators including church members such as ministers and worship leaders, as well as lay employees. The Church said it wanted to be open about the past and to have stronger safeguarding procedures in the future. Review chairman Jane Stacey, former deputy chief executive of the children's charity Barnardo's, said ministers of religion were in an "almost unique position of trust" at "very vulnerable times" in people's lives, and she called for "more robust accountability structures" and a culture change in the Church. David Greenwood, chairman of the Stop Church Child Abuse campaign, said many reports of abuse will not have been recorded in the inquiry, as it examined only the ones documented in the past. 

The most senior Catholic cardinal in Australia has been accused of “making a mockery” of child sexual abuse victims by a member of the Vatican’s own commission on child protection. Peter Saunders, himself a victim of child sexual abuse, said cardinal George Pell had an “almost sociopathic” disregard for victims of child sexual abuse through his repeated denial of any knowledge of abuse within the church, calling on the Pope to remove Pell from his post. During the recent hearings of Australia’s royal commission into the response to child abuse cases in institutions, Pell was accused of bribing victims to remain silent over cases of sexual abuse, yet he denies this. 

Enforced disappearance and bodily integrity

Nigeria has passed a federal law banning female genital mutilation. The bill, which was signed into law as one of the final acts of outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan, builds on prohibitions already in place in some of Nigeria's 36 states, making the practice illegal throughout the country. Campaigners cautioned that, in a country in which a quarter of women are estimated to have undergone FGM, the elimination of the practice must be backed up by strong enforcement and efforts to change attitudes. Other commentators have stressed the significance of the law passed in Africa’s most populous nation for other countries in the region. Mary Wandia, FGM programme manager of Equality Now, said: “We hope, too, that the other African countries which have yet to ban FGM – including Liberia, Sudan and Mali, among others – do so immediately to give all girls a basic level of protection.” The new law also prohibits men from abandoning their wives and children without financial support.

A mother in the United States was “bullied” into consenting to her son’s circumcision by a judge, being told she must sign a consent form or face indefinite jail time, activists said. About a year after the child’s birth, the parents entered into an agreement in which the father would schedule and pay for the circumcision. Yet at a later date the mother objected to the procedure on the basis that it is not medically necessary or in the best interests of the child. Meanwhile the father said circumcision was “just the normal thing to do”. Lengthy litigation followed. After failing to convince judges that a court-ordered circumcision violates her son’s civil rights, the mother went into hiding with her son for three months in contempt of court. She now also faces charges for violating the custody agreement. In a similar case in Israel last year, the High Court voided a ruling by a rabbinical court that ordered a mother to allow her one-year-old son to be circumcised on the father’s demand, saying the court had not sufficiently examined what was in the child’s best interests.

The Gambian authorities have been detaining incommunicado dozens of friends and relatives of people accused of involvement in a coup attempt in December 2014, according to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Among the detainees are women, elderly people, and a child, many of the victims are believed to be in ill-health. One of the relatives being held is Yusupha Lowe, the 16-year-old son of a man suspected of taking part in the failed coup who subsequently fled the country. Gambians in the diaspora launched a social media campaign for the boy's release in April, but Yusupha cannot be traced and the government has refused to provide any information about his whereabouts to family members. “Gambian authorities are ignoring basic human rights standards by holding people incommunicado, raising grave concerns about forced disappearance,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director of Human Rights Watch. “Because their whereabouts are unknown and necessary safeguards are not in place, they are at high risk of torture and other abuses.”

Sexual and religious discrimination condemned

Kazakhstan's Constitutional Council has declared unconstitutional a bill that sought to ban information which depicts “non-traditional sexual relations” in a “positive way” because of its vague wording.  Advocates say final drafts of the bill “On Protecting Children from Information Harmful to their Health and Development” include a broad ban on the publication or sharing of information relating to same-sex relations in settings where children might be present. With Kazakhstan in the process of bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, it must meet human rights requirements introduced in December 2014, which include an anti-discrimination clause that addresses sexual orientation, among other grounds of discrimination.    

Thirty Muslim schoolgirls were denied entry to their school in Belgium for wearing long skirts, as the headteacher considers them a “symbol of religiosity”. Wearing religious symbols has been banned in classrooms in Belgium since 2010. The students of the De Mot-Couvreur institute in Brussels protested outside the school demanding entry, but they were dispersed after police were called. Earlier in May, a 15-year-old Muslim girl, who had been barred from attending school in northern France for wearing a long, black skirt - again, deemed to be a religious symbol - was allowed to return in her usual attire. A show of support on Twitter in the two cases carries the hashtag #JePorteMaJupeCommeJeVeux (I wear my skirt as I please). Meanwhile in the United States, the Supreme Court has ruled that the clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch discriminated against a 17-year-old applicant after it refused to employ her because of her headscarf, which the retailer argued violated its “Look Policy” for sales staff.  The company has since reversed its policy on headscarves.

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ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Although the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has been ratified by Papua New Guinea (PNG), it has not been incorporated into national law and therefore cannot be enforced in courts. However, courts may consider the CRC in determining whether a law or act is “reasonably justifiable in a democratic society”. Children or their representatives may bring civil suits, complaints to court about violations of their constitutional rights, or judicial review proceedings. In most cases children must be represented by a “next friend” or guardian ad litem. Courts have wide powers to enforce human rights and provide remedies for rights violations. Despite these strong legal provisions, enforcement of court judgments is reported to be difficult. Furthermore, the majority of the population is unable or unwilling to access the formal justice system. Instead, communities tend to resort to Village Courts, which often make decisions that discriminate against children and contravene the protective provisions in domestic law, the Constitution and international treaties. 

Read the full report on access to justice for children in PNG. 

This report is part of CRIN's access to justice for children project, looking at the status of the CRC in national law, the status of children involved in legal proceedings, the legal means to challenge violations of children’s rights and the practical considerations involved in challenging violations. 

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Justice systems: International Congress 'Children and the Law'
Organisation: Fernando Pessoa University
Dates: 11-13 June 2015
Location: Porto, Portugal

Justice sector reform: Training programme on applying human rights based approaches to justice sector reform
Organisation: International Human Rights Network
Dates: 22-26 June 2015
Location: Maynooth, Ireland

Child rights: Young children's rights in Wales and England: What Next After the Election?
Organisation: UCL Institute of Education & Cardiff Metropolitan University
Date: 24 June 2015
Location: London, United Kingdom

FGM: Female genital mutilation as a child safeguarding issue
Organisation: Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (AFRUCA)
Date: 26 June 2015
Location: London, United Kingdom

Missing children: Second int'l academic conference on missing children & adults
Organisation: Various
Date: 8-10 July 2015
Location: Brussels, Belgium United Kingdom

Participation: Children as actors for transforming society
Organisation: Child to Child et al.
Dates: 27 July - 2 August 2015
Location: Caux, Switzerland

Child labour: The Nairobi Global Conference on Child Labour
Organisation: African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect
Date: 23-25 August 2015
Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Child indicators: ‘From Welfare to Well-being - Child indicators in research, policy & practice’
Organisation: International Society for Child Indicators
Date: 2-4 September 2015
Location: Cape Town, South Africa

Course: Child Rights-Based Approaches
Organisation: Human Rights Education Associates
Dates: 2 September - 17 November 2015
Location: Online

Child abuse: European Regional Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect
Organisation: International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
Dates: 27-30 September 2015
Location: Bucharest, Romania

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EMPLOYMENT 

CRIN: Legal research internships (Arabic-speaking)
Application deadline: Rolling deadline
Location: London, Umited Kingdom

CRIN: Communications Intern (Spanish-speaking)
Location: Flexible, home-based
Application deadline: 11 June  2015

Just for Kids Law: Youth Advocate
Location: London, United Kingdom
Application deadline: 8 June 2015

Street Child United: Youth Participation Consultancy
Location: N/A
Application deadline: 8 June 2015

European Roma Rights Centre: Financial Officer
Application deadline: 19 June 2015
Location: Budapest, Hungary

GOOD NEWS

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