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Professor Yakin Ertürk has one year remaining in her post as the UN's Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women. She is a professor of sociology at the Department of Sociology and the head of the Gender and Women’s Studies Programme at the Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey. She has worked for various national and international agencies on rural development and women in development projects in a number of developing countries. Prof. Ertürk's mandate (what is this?) is up for renewal during the current session of the Human Rights Council. I don't know what the process will bring, although my general impression is that there is support for the mandate. During my five years as Special Rapporteur I understand I have had a good relationship with governments and NGOs. I don't anticipate any difficulties, but you never know – this is the Human Rights Council after all. How do you see your role in the context of child rights? My mandate includes express consideration of the girl child, but not so much boys. But in the context of my work it is not possible to separate them. I also address the issues of children as a general category. Do you see a close association between the rights of women and those of children? Yes, but there is also an important difference that authorities often fail to acknowledge. Women are not dependent, while children are. Children require care and protection, but women's dependency is often created as a result of patriarchy. The very nature of the human child means that discussions of rights take very different dimensions. You have spoken during this Human Rights Council session about the 'empowerment' or women rather than their 'powerlessness'. Could there be lessons there for children? Absolutely. A lot can be learned regarding the empowerment of children. We talk about protection and care of children, and them being dependent on parents, but thinking in terms of empowerment of even young children can be very important. Children may need protection, but this does not mean authoritarianism. We think that children are our property. They come from us, but they do not belong to us. They are in our trust temporarily. We can learn so much from children. I consider my daughter to be my main educator. If we really attend to what our children are saying, the relationship can be so productive from both sides. Has there been an issue or visit that you have been especially affected by? It is hard to think of specific circumstances as there has been so much. Conflict always brings out the worst – and children and girls suffer most. It was very hard in the DRC seeing girls whose hands had been chopped off, and had been sexually abused even with objects. Things like that are very disturbing. During displacement and occupation also, the mechanisms to protect are usually very weak or non-existent. But the dangers within the home are also striking. It is very alarming to hear of even babies being sexually exploited. How do you think your role relates to the new post of Special Representative to the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children? The protection of children from violence has always been an area we have identified as a gap, so I am very pleased about the new role. The Special Procedure mandates have a great deal of flexibility which the UN system on its own does not always have. I am sure there will be many areas for collaboration. Is there one piece of advice you would give to child rights advocates? I don't like to hand out too much advice, but I would say again to remember that children are not our property, even though they come from us. We all have responsibility for every child. What have been the best and the worst things about your job? The best is that the mandate is a very empowering one, so I have had a great opportunity to raise problems and put them on the agenda. And there have been some great outcomes. The worst is that follow-up is limited, and we can't always see what happens after we raise the issue, or if it makes any difference. It is also difficult that, in the final analysis, the fulfilment of rights rests on political will and we may have limited control in this. It can be very frustrating. All I would do is to appeal to all governments to fulfil their human rights obligations. How would you sum up child rights? Well, I would say that children's rights are non-existent. Some children are lucky and live in enabling environments, but most grow up having to work or assume responsibilities and do not experience childhood before the transition to adulthood. If you weren't a Rapporteur, what would you be doing? I am an academic. In my career I have dealt with child labour and women's rights and I would continue in the field of human rights. Working in human rights has been very fulfilling because, unlike academia, you have more opportunity to touch people's lives. I am very privileged really. Read an interview with Juan Migeul Petit, Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography CRIN is running a series of interviews with leading global child rights activists in fortnightly editions of our Tuesday CRINMAIL. See interviews with:
How do you feel about the renewal of your mandate?