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LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS

Gender equality

The World Medical Association (WMA), which represents 112 medical associations worldwide, has adopted new rights-based guidelines on health care for transgender people. In the past, some treatment of transgender people has occurred with disregard for their unique needs "and often this has happened with the participation of the physician," said WMA Secretary General Otmar Kloiber. The new guidelines recognise that being transgender is not a disorder and explicitly reject "coercive treatment or forced behaviour modification," a recent statement said. The WMA also emphasises transgender people’s right to affordable transition-related care. And while acknowledging that “cultural sensitivities” in some countries may impact access to trans-specific health care, the Association concluded that the basic rights and overall well-being of transgender people should take precedence over any cultural, political or religious considerations. “[We] want to see appropriate legal measures to protect their equal civil rights,” said WMA President Sir Michael Marmot, and urged “national medical associations to take action to identify and combat barriers to care.”

The US state of California has enacted a right for transgender children to be placed in foster homes that respect their gender identity. Local authorities already had a duty to consider certain factors and give reasons for their decision to place children in specific homes, however, an explicit obligation to place children according to their gender identity, rather than the sex recorded in official documents, was described by equality advocates who co-sponsored the Bill as “common sense” given the fact that “[t]oo often, transgender kids are placed into home situations that are more hostile than the ones they left.”

New regulations at at the Girl Guides of Canada mean transgender girls are now allowed to join the organisation, in a move welcomed by rights activists. The new guidelines, which incorporate issues such as bathroom use and privacy during camping trips, also apply to adults wishing to take on leadership positions. Also, there are now protocols to follow when a transgender child has revealed their gender identity in their guiding group, but has not yet done so at home.

Schools in the UK are being urged to tackle sexist language to avoid instilling gender stereotypes in teenagers, as it deters boys from studying the arts and girls the sciences, the Institute of Physics (IoP) has said. The call is based on research which found that gender stereotyping of subjects in schools is still common, and that while schools have policies to counter discriminatory language placed "somewhere" on their websites, teachers’ awareness of the issue is patchy and sexist “banter” is treated less seriously than racist or homophobic language. The report, “Opening Doors: A guide to good practice in countering gender stereotyping in schools” also urges teachers to reflect on their own language to ensure they are "not inadvertently transmitting negative messages".

Corporal punishment

In Ireland, a proposed amendment to abolish the “reasonable chastisement” defence for corporal punishment in the home has been introduced in the Seanad. The defence allows for parents, guardians or childminders charged with assault or cruelty against a child to claim in their defence that they used reasonable chastisement to discipline the child. With adults in Ireland already protected in law against assault, if the amendment is approved it will mean that all citizens, regardless of age, will enjoy equal protection. Several UN bodies have criticised Ireland for its position on corporal punishment, and in 2015 the State was found to be in violation of the European Social Charter for not explicitly banning corporal punishment of children in all settings.

Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court has indefinitely deferred its judgment regarding the legality of the judicial use of corporal punishment on children. The NGO Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is preparing an intervention in the case, asking the Constitutional Court to confirm a January 2014 decision holding that caning of juvenile offenders is unconstitutional. In the meantime, the sentences will continue to be administered until the Court delivers its judgment.

Violence against children

Since August, attacks on albino people have increased in six countries in southern and east Africa in the run up to national elections, the UN’s first human rights expert on albinism, Ikponwosa Ero, has warned. The body parts of albinos are highly valued in witchcraft and fetch a high price, as they are believed to bring good luck and wealth for political hopefuls. With elections set to take place in Tanzania, Mozambique and Central African Republic in the coming months, violence against the group is expected to increase further. Politicians turn to witch doctors to improve their chances of winning the polls, and witch doctors will pay as much as $75,000 for a full set of albino body parts, according to a Red Cross report. Some believe the limbs are more potent if the victims scream during amputation, according to a 2013 United Nations report.

A young woman from the Hmong community in Minneapolis, United States, has launched a federal lawsuit against an American citizen who she alleges raped, impregnated and forced her into marriage as a 14-year-old. She says the man, who was 43 at the time and is also a member of the Hmong, went to Laos where he and others travelled to obtain a traditional bride. He lured Ms Vang (now 22) to Vientiane, the country’s capital, with an invitation to audition for a music video before carrying out the abuse. The lawsuit is unprecedented among the close-knit Hmong community which reportedly guards a code of silence according to which those who speak out against abuse are physically harmed or separated from their family. Ms Vang, who is seeking $450,000 in damages, brought the civil lawsuit under Masha's law, which provides a civil remedy for children who have suffered commercial sexual exploitation. 

Poland's children's ombudsperson has defended the use of “baby boxes” in the country despite the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s call for a ban on such facilities. Baby boxes, which provide for the anonymous abandonment of newborns, are largely maintained by monasteries, nunneries and orphanages in Poland and other European countries. Proponents argue that they could prevent infanticide. Yet critics say they violate children’s right to know and be cared for by their parents, among other rights. The CRC has recommended as a last resort the possibility of confidential hospital births. The mother's identity would be kept on file, allowing the child the possibility of knowing their mother’s identity at the age of 16 or over, a practice carried out in Germany.

Anti-extremism and children’s rights

Two bomb blasts in Ankara, Turkey, have killed more than 100 people and injured as many as 500 more, including a number of children. The two explosions, which the government is blaming on Islamic State, hit a peace rally where thousands of people were assembled. They are being described as the deadliest terrorist attacks in modern Turkish history. Four people have been arrested in relation to the attack after massive quantities of explosives and ammunition were found and charged with making "explosive devices with the intention to kill" and "an attempt to disrupt constitutional order". The country’s police are under increased scrutiny following the death of a British journalist in suspicious circumstances and after the recent discovery that children were being trained in the core of Islamic State’s ideology in basement apartments in Istanbul. All of this comes just a month after 70 NGOs in the country signed an open letter to the government, stressing the importance of its obligations contained in the CRC, particularly in situations of conflict.

Parents will be able to cancel the passports of their children up to the age of 17 under new anti-extremism laws in the United Kingdom. The measures were announced as part of the Home Secretary’s crackdown on ideologies outside of the mainstream, which she described as limits for people who “spread hate”. Children aged under 16 could have their passports cancelled by their parents, even if they took or hid the actual document since July this year, but the government has gone further to prevent people travelling overseas to be radicalised. In other news, hate preachers will be banned from using the internet and anyone with a conviction for extremist activity will be automatically barred from working with children. These measures come after it was revealed that 796 people, 312 of whom were under 18, were referred to the UK’s deradicalisation scheme between June and August this year and following the conviction of a 15-year-old for planning a terrorist attack. The new rules will also include tighter restrictions on what can be broadcast on TV and radio and a full review of public institutions which could be infiltrated by extremists.

Australia is set to lower the age at which control orders can be applied to terrorism suspects from 16 to 14, a move which civil rights groups say will drive alienated young people towards radicalisation. Control orders restrict a person’s freedom of movement in the name of public safety if they are suspected of terrorist activity. They can involve being ordered to wear a tracking device, the imposition of curfews, and being prevented from communicating with family members or school students. Attorney General George Brandis said the new measures respond to how “the reach of Isil … is extending to younger and younger people,” referring to the case of a 15-year-old boy who shot dead a civilian police worker in Sydney, and who would have been too young to fall into the current control order scheme. The National Children's Commissioner, Megan Mitchell, has spoken against lowering the age limit, saying that “control[ling] the behaviour of a young person when they have committed no crime ... could be counter-productive, and potentially lead young people to become even more angry and alienated. It could drive them to take their activities further underground.”

Other news: policy award & the UN

Zanzibar’s Children’s Act has been awarded the Future Policy Award 2015 for its contribution to protecting and strengthening children’s rights. The Award, which is organised by the World Future Council and celebrates policies rather than people, this year focused on children’s rights policies. Zanzibar’s policy was awarded the prize for provoking “a marked societal change in attitudes towards children” and for involving the contribution of over 200 children’s councils during its drafting process. Other policies around the world which were also praised include Finland’s Basic Education Act, Sweden's Children and Parent Code to prohibit all corporal punishment and other humiliating treatment of children, and Argentina's Constitutional Right to a Clean and Healthy Environment.

Violence, armed conflict and sexual exploitation were the focus of a number of children’s rights discussions at the UN General Assembly’s 70th session, as human rights experts in these fields presented their annual reports. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SG) on Violence against Children, Marta Santos Pais, also launched a report on “Safeguarding the rights of girls in the criminal justice system” and held a meeting on the protection of children from bullying which will inform the SG’s 2016 report on the issue. Read CRIN’s contribution to the report’s call for submissions. Further update will be sent out later in the month in our CRINmail on Children’s Rights at the UN. Subscribe here.

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ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN IN THE UNITED STATES

The United States of America (US) is the only UN Member State not to have ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), despite being heavily involved in drafting it. The CRC has been cited in US cases several times, but rejected on the grounds that it has not been ratified. The US does not have a comprehensive set of federal laws or any uniform statutory framework for child rights; rather, provisions on children’s rights are scattered across several state laws. Minors can only initiate action in state civil court through a parent or guardian ad litem. Challenges to children’s constitutional violations are brought in the same way as any other case - through a representative, in either state or federal courts. The Supreme Court can strike down any law or action that is incompatible with the Federal Constitution, including its rights provisions. Neither the federal nor the state courts provide legal aid for non-criminal cases, but both court systems allow for plaintiffs to proceed under certain circumstances without having to pay for court fees or costs due to his or her lack of financial resources.   

Read the full report on access to justice for children in the United States of America.

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.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Americas: 156th session of the IACHR
Organisation: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Date: 17-28 October 2015
Location: Washinton DC, United States

Street children: Research conference - ‘Exploring different conceptualisations of street-connected children’s identities’
Organisation: Consortium for Street Children
Event date: 5 November 2015
Location: London, United Kingdom

Call for submissions: Multi-agency collaboration in child protection in South-eastern Europe
Organisers: Terre des hommes Kosovo, Child Protection Hub, DCI-Netherlands
Submission deadline: N/A
Event date: 9-10 November 2015
Location: Prishtina, Kosovo

Reproductive rights: New reproductive technologies and the European fertility market
Organisation: Erasmus University Rotterdam et al. 
Abstract submission deadline: 1 October 2015
Event date: 19-20 November 2015
Location: Santander, Spain

Health: Conference on child rights and sight
Organisation: Distressed Children & Infants International
Dates: 24 October 2015
Location: New Haven, United States

Asia Pacific: 10th Asian Pacific regional conference on child abuse and neglect
Organisation: International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
Dates: 25-28 October 2015
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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EMPLOYMENT

CRIN: Middle East and North Africa Intern
Application deadline: Rolling deadline
Location: Bethlehem, Palestine

Save the Children Sweden: Deputy Response Team Leader for the Humanitarian Surge Team
Location: West African country (TBC)
Application deadline: 25 October 2015

Save the Children Sweden: Director Program Development and Ouality
Location: Khartoum, Sudan
Application deadline: 25 October 2015

European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC): Fundraising Officer
Application deadline: 5 November 2015
Location: Budapest, Hungary

ERRC: Information Officer
Application deadline: 16 November 2015
Location: Budapest, Hungary 

LEAK OF THE WEEK

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