The week in children's rights - 1541

Intersex children in the United States continue to be subjected to medically unnecessary surgeries that can inflict irreversible physical and psychological harm on them, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch and interACT. The report found that many doctors still operate on intersex children’s gonads, internal sex organs and genitals when they are too young to participate in the decision, and where the surgeries could be safely deferred. The consequences of surgery, most often carried out to assign a child a binary sex at birth, can amount to sterilisation without the patient’s consent, may risk incontinence, scarring, lack of sensation, and psychological trauma, with many of the effects being irreversible. Despite growing recognition of the harm such operations cause, the report found uneven and inadequate standards of care and highlighted disagreements amongst practitioners about how best to respect and protect the rights of intersex patients. The report recommends that the US government and medical bodies outlaw all surgical procedures that seek to alter the gonads, genitals, or internal sex organs of children with atypical sex characteristics too young to participate in the decision, when those procedures carry a meaningful risk of harm and can be safely deferred. The American Academy of Pediatrics has since issued an initial statementnoting the importance of engaging in “open and transparent conversations” about proposed treatment and alternatives for intersex children.

A new law aimed at controlling children’s exposure to harmful chemicalsand heavy metals in toys has entered into force in Nepal. Under the new Mandatory Toys Standard (MTS), the Ministry of Population and Environment has limited the maximum value of a dozen chemicals which may be present in children’s toys. Concerns have been rising about the continued exposure of children to toys containing these toxic chemicals, potentially harming their physical, mental and intellectual development. A study conducted by the Center for Public Health and Environmental Development in 2013 looked at a sample of 100 toys collected from different parts of the Kathmandu Valley and found that 54 contained levels of toxic heavy metals including lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium and bromine far higher than permissible limits set out in international standards. The new mandatory standard includes a broad definition of children’s toys, and local bodies have been ordered to prevent the import, production, sale, storage and distribution of toys that contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals exceeding the limits prescribed by the MTS.

The parents of Charlie Gard, an 11-month-old child from the United Kingdom who suffers from an extremely rare, currently incurable condition, have ended their legal challenge to take him abroad for experimental treatment. Their case centred around a disagreement with doctors over whether the child should undergo experimental therapy in the United States. Doctors were of the opinion that Charlie’s brain was irreversibly damaged and that therapy would be futile. The case was brought to the High Court, which determined that the experimental treatment would have no “effective benefit” and could even subject Charlie to pain and suffering. The trial judge held that treatment would not be in Charlie’s best interests and gave permission to the doctors to withdraw Charlie’s ventilation and artificial nutrition and hydration. Charlie’s parents appealed, unsuccessfully, to the UK’s Supreme Court and to the European Court of Human Rights, arguing that the test should not be whether treatment was in the child’s best interests but rather, whether the treatment is likely to cause “significant harm”. Both courts rejected this argument, noting the international consensus that the child’s best interests is the most important factor. The case received widespread international attention, and it came to light in the final court appearances that the doctor who offered to carry out the experimental treatment had not previously examined Charlie or examined his brain scans, and had a financial interest in the treatment he planned to prescribe.

 

Sexual violence in South Sudan’s civil war is being carried out on a “massive scale” with civilians, including children, witnessing or being subjected to gang rape, beatings and torture. A new Amnesty International report details how men, women and children have been subjected to sexual assault, torture and humiliation, both by government and opposition forces since December 2013. The research draws on interviews with 168 survivors, 124 of whom reported that they were either raped or gang raped during the conflict, with most reporting that sexual violence was used systematically during attacks on their communities to humiliate and assert control over victims. Targets were often chosen on the basis of which ethnic minority they belonged to. South Sudan's government has condemned sexual assaults, promising that "the government is moving swiftly to protect civilians from such behaviour by educating all armed forces and holding perpetrators accountable," but victims have claimed that there is total impunity for perpetrators and little in the way of medical or psychological help for survivors.

Children in Central African Republic (CAR) are increasingly being targeted for murder, rape and recruitment into armed groups as renewed fighting takes its toll on the country’s civilians. UNICEF has warned that months of conflict have led to an “increasing number of violent acts” targeting the youngest members of the population, amounting to “flagrant violations of children’s rights”. The violence, which has escalated since French peacekeepers left the country last year, has led to many civilians fleeing to neighbouring countries. As many as 103,000 refugees from CAR are now registered with the UN Refugee Agency in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and experts have warned that if the situation continues to deteriorate resources will quickly run out. Speaking to reporters in Bangui, UN Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Stephen O’Brien, said that the UN’s Humanitarian Response Plan was only 24 percent funded, requiring a total of $497 million.

The UN has been urged by several charities to include Saudi Arabia on its annual list of countries that have committed grave violations of children’s rights in conflict. The country was previously placed on the list, compiled annually by the UN Secretary-General, but later removed in 2016 after allegedly exerting political pressure on the UN. A briefing by Save the Children and Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict said that the Saudi-led coalition, currently taking part in the conflict in Yemen, committed “grave violations against children” in 23 attacks in 2016, bombing hospitals, schools and other civilian targets. The briefing details how 4,000 children have been either killed or injured in the conflict, while destruction of health facilities and water infrastructure have contributed to an ongoing cholera epidemic, now confirmed to be the worst recorded so far in human history. The United States and the United Kingdom are also implicated in the conflict, with the US approving more than $20 billion in military sales to Saudi Arabia in 2015, and the UK approving £283 million worth of arms sales to the country after an airstrike on a Yemeni funeral which killed 140 people.

Juvenile justice

 

 

In India, a regional government committee tasked with recommending ways to improve education among religious minorities has suggested an increase in the number of segregated schools. Despite recent legislation stipulating that the education system must be open and accessible to children from every background, caste, religion and ability, separate schools for children from marginalised communities are becoming more prevalent. Many education activists believe segregation is creating educational ‘ghettos’ and institutionalising exclusion. “Schools must be diverse and accessible to all,” said Ambarish Rai, convener of the Right to Education Forum. While some argue marginalised communities need the safety of institutions where they form the majority, in the long-term, this can have serious negative consequences. “The school is often the only place where children from different communities can interact with each other,” said Geetha Nambissan from Jawaharlal Nehru University. “It can help instil values of equality and fraternity. In this country, communities are already separated and religion is especially divisive. A separate system is not an equal one.”

More than 90 percent of public school educators in Australia are concerned about the privatisation of state-run education, including the ethics of private companies, according to a new report by the New South Wales Teachers Federation (NSWTF). The study, which involved 2,200 teachers and principals from across the country, raises concerns about the increasing commercialisation of schooling in the country. The majority of respondents argued against commercialisation, or at least expressed concern about the quality of commercial products and services. The report also notes that the “reduced capacity of the state” in education, due to increased reliance on private companies to design curriculum programmes, textbooks and standardised testing, has opened up spaces and opportunities for so-called edu-businesses to expand their role in schools and schooling systems, principally on a for-profit basis. “Why is education such easy prey?” said NSWTF president, Maurie Mulheron, “Because everyone has to send their children to schools. Schools are always there – it’s a gravy train for life.”

 

 

Disability: Pacific Rim Int'l Conference on Disability & Diversity
Organisation: Center on Disability Studies

Date: 9-11 October 2017

Location: Honolulu, United States