The week in children's rights - 1575

In this issue:

LATEST NEWS AND REPORTS

Minimum ages

Lawmakers in Iceland are considering lowering the voting age for municipal elections from 18 to 16, potentially allowing children to vote for representatives in their towns and cities at the next election in May. The bill is currently making its way through the Icelandic parliament and enjoys support from most members of the country’s ruling coalition. The current draft of the bill notes that Iceland’s young people are quite politically aware, many join the youth wing of political parties and more are involved with political causes. Despite this, opponents of the changes have called for the government to “let the children be”, claiming that children should be “protected” from politics until they are 18. If the law is approved an estimated 9,000 children will be added to the electoral register before the spring elections. Globally, 23 countries currently allow under-18s to vote in local or national elections, according to data collected by CRIN. For a critique of the arguments used to deny children the vote, including ‘let children be children’, read this report.

The French senate has amended a bill that sought to lower the age at which children can sign up to online services and consent to their data being used without parental permission, effectively setting the age at 16. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets out rules on the processing of children’s personal data on the internet, including gaming and social media, and requires online services to obtain parental consent where a child interested in signing up is under 16 years old. European governments are allowed to set their own minimum age, sometimes referred to as the ‘age of digital consent’, between 13 and 16 years old, and have until May this year to do so. France’s lower house recently introduced a bill which would have seen the age of digital consent set at 15, but the Senate amended the draft law to remove this provision, meaning that the default age of 16 will apply when the regulation comes into force. This draft law has not yet been finalised. So far the United Kingdom and Ireland have opted for a minimum age of 13, while Austriasettled on 14.  Previously, Ireland’s Special Rapporteur on Child Protection Dr Geoffrey Shannon pointed out that while the aim of the regulation was to protect children from online marketing, the State must ensure children’s right to freedom of information and expression are not infringed. He gave examples of state authorities pressuring internet service providers to block websites deemed unsuitable for children, even sites containing “material which could be important for the wellbeing of many under-18s,” including on sex education, politics, and support groups for alcohol dependence and suicide.
 

Education

The ministry of education in Peru has placed a temporary ban on referring to gender as a social construct in state-run schools. The Superior Court of Lima approved a precautionary measure in response to a petition by a parents’ group which disagreed with what schools were teaching children about gender. The group had initially requested that the ministry annul the entire curriculum, but that petition is now pending at the Supreme Court. The precautionary measure specifically addresses a paragraph which reads: “Although that which we consider as ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’ is based on a biological sexual difference, these are notions which we gradually construct day by day in our interactions”. The latest measure means the ministry will for now suspend teacher training on gender equality and stop developing educational materials on the subject. The minister of education, Idel Vexler, said the court’s decision interferes with the role of the ministry according to the General Law on Education. On the other hand in Paraguay, the education ministry announced in October it would ban schools from using any materials that teach students about gender equality - referred to by the ministry as “gender theory” or “gender ideology.”

Several students in South African schools have alleged that an NGO carried out HIV tests either without parental permission or without observing the importance of keeping results private. At least one student claims to have been tested for HIV and then told that they were HIV positive in front of their friends. One 12-year-old vowed never to return to her school, claiming she was publicly humiliated when her status was revealed in front of her peers by an NGO conducting HIV screenings. The girl’s mother added that the child was told without a parent or guardian present and not offered counselling despite the diagnosis. In another case, parents expressed concern to local media that their children had been tested without  their consent, though the NGO involved in carrying out the tests stressed that under South African law children can consent to an HIV test from the age of 12, or below the age of 12 if they demonstrate sufficient maturity. Members of the NGOs allegedly involved in the incidents have been called to speak to the department of education and the Eastern Cape Aids Council.

Although discrimination against children with disabilities in Lebanon is barred by law, new research has shown that public and private schools exclude many children with disabilities. For those allowed to enrol, schools often lack reasonable accommodation and many also require the families of children with disabilities to pay extra fees and expenses. Lebanon’s Law No. 220, passed in 2000, guarantees everyone with a disability the right to education and other services, but children with disabilities in Lebanon face many logistical, social, and economic pitfalls which hamper their access to education. For children who are not able to enrol in schools, 103 specialised institutions funded by the Social Affairs Ministry serve as the alternative for children with disabilities, though these centres are fraught with problems of their own. At least 3,806 children with disabilities are in government-funded institutions but researchers found that in some there was no separation between children and unrelated adult residents, while others were so far away from their students’ homes that children often slept at the institutions away from their family.

Sexual abuse and accountability

Kazakhstan’s ombudsperson for children, Zagipa Baliyeva, “paraded” a seven-year-old alleged victim of sexual violence in front of television crewsin what critics have described as a “tasteless violation of ethical norms”. The child’s case began to attract media attention after it was revealed that local authorities dismissed the child’s abuse claims, with police and the child’s school principal refusing to investigate the allegations. Additionally, a local doctor initially refused to conduct a medical exam, but eventually concluded there was no sign of abuse. Bloggers suggested there was collusion between local figures, as the doctor, school principal and one of the chief police officers are all from the same family. Ombudswoman Baliyeva, from the ruling Nur Otan party, intervened in the case only once it had attracted public interest, but her behaviour was widely criticised, as she repeatedly accused the child’s mother of neglect and proclaimed herself to be a better mother, while failing to address the question of justice and corruption. Commentators say the chain of events represents Kazakhstan in a microcosm, from violence and nepotism to injustice and shameless self-promotion, as well as highlighting a system that fails to offer basic protections for children.

India’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has for the first time started collecting data on the online sexual abuse of children across the country. Until now no repository of such crimes was available at the national level. The move comes after a parliamentary committee called out the NCRB for “under-reporting of crimes related to online child sex abuse in India,” saying it is “due to associated stigma and propensity of parents/guardians to not involve police in these matters.” It added: “it is unbelievable that in most of the states there is no incidence of any online child sex abuse”. At the time, the NCRB said it used to collect data under Section 67B of IT Act (publishing or transmitting images of child sexual abuse online). The committee recommended the NCRB start recording all cases of child sex abuse and other cyber crimes against children under a separate category of offences, so that the performance of law enforcement agencies on this aspect can be observed.

In the United States, two men who claim they were sexually abused as children by a leader at Jehovah’s Witnesses congregations in San Diego have settled their long-standing lawsuits against the religious organisation’s governing body, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York. Both plaintiffs alleged that senior figures in the organisation knew that Gonzalo Campos had abused children, but covered it up and allowed the accused to keep working with children and representing the religious organisation. Campos later confessed to abusing at least eight children between 1982 and 1995, and fled to Mexico in 2010. As part of the case, the Watchtower was required to hand over internal documents about knowledge of religious figures who had been accused of sexually abusing children, but refused to do so. In response, a New York state appeals court in November upheld $4,000-a-day penalty against the Watchtower for non compliance. When the Watchtower eventually complied, it handed documents over under a protective order preventing their contents from being discussed or shared with law enforcement agencies, reporters or the public. A condition of the settlement is that the plaintiffs cannot discuss the terms.

Corporal punishment

The European Court of Human Rights has found that a German court's decision to take away the children of families in a Christian sect due to their use of corporal punishment did not violate their rights. Bavarian authorities in 2013 raided the Twelve Tribes sect settlements and placed 40 children, between the ages of 18 months and 17 years, into foster care after a hidden-camera media report showed the parents caning children as punishment. German authorities justified their actions by saying that the punishment constituted child abuse, leaving them with no choice but to intervene. The case was brought by four families who had children removed from their custody, arguing that Germany's actions were a violation of the right to respect for private and family life. In its ruling, the Strasbourg court found the sect had employed "a form of institutionalised violence against minors" and that even if social workers had stepped in, they "could not have effectively protected the children, as corporally disciplining the children had been based on their unshakeable dogma". In 2000, Germany outlawed the corporal punishment of children in all settings, including the home.

Three students were reportedly hit with a paddle in a rural part of the United States for participating in school walkouts protesting against gun violence. Public school officials in Arkansas allegedly "swatted" the children after they left the school for 17 minutes, one minute for each life lost in last month's Florida school shooting. One child’s mother said the students were offered two punishment options, but chose corporal punishment rather than an in-school suspension. Wylie Greer, 17, one the students who claims he was hit by school staff, said "corporal punishment has no place in schools" and called for an end to such discipline. According to local media, 41 percent of Arkansas students currently attend a school where such corporal punishment occurs.

UPCOMING EVENTS

LEAK OF THE WEEK