Rights of Child
Children's rights include the right to health, education, family life, play and recreation, an adequate standard of living and to be protected from abuse and harm.
Every child and young person has a right to be kept safe from all forms of harm. Children and young people are entitled to the highest quality healthcare. They have a right to safe and appropriately expert care, delivered in a child and family/whānau centred organisation and in their own homes.
Child rights are based on what a child needs to survive, grow, participate and meet their potential. They apply equally to every child, regardless of ethnicity, gender or religion.
A child is recognised as a person under the age of 18, unless national laws recognise an earlier age of majority.
All rights apply to all children without exception. It is the State’s obligation to protect children from any form of discrimination and to take positive action to promote their rights.
Parents, organisations and state parties should always have the best interests of the child as a primary consideration.
The State must do all it can to implement the rights contained in the Convention.
The child has the right to express his or her views, obtain information and make ideas or information known, regardless of frontiers.
The State must respect the rights and responsibilities
of parents and the extended family to provide guidance for the child that is appropriate to her or his evolving capacities.
The child has a right to education, and the State’s duty is to ensure that primary education is free and compulsory.
The child has the right to a name at birth. The child also has the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, to know his or her parents and be cared for by them.
Every child has the inherent right to life, and the State has an obligation to ensure the child’s survival and development.
The State has an obligation to protect and, if necessary, re-establish basic aspects of
the child’s identity. This includes name, nationality and family ties.
The child has the right to express his or her opinion freely and to have that opinion taken into account in any matter or procedure affecting the child.
The State shall respect the child’s right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, subject to appropriate parental guidance.
Children have a right to meet with others, and to join or form associations.
Children have the right to protection from interference with their privacy, family, home and correspondence, and to protection from libel or slander.
click to edit
Children have the right to protection from the use of narcotic and psychotropic drugs, and from being involved in their production or distribution.
Parents have joint primary responsibility for raising the child, and the State shall support them in this. The State shall provide parents with appropriate child-rearing assistance
The State shall protect the child from all forms of maltreatment by parents or others responsible for the child’s care and shall establish appropriate social programmes for the prevention of abuse and the treatment of victims.
click to edit
Education shall aim at developing the child’s personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to the fullest extent.
The child has the right to be protected from work that threatens his or her health, education or development. The State shall set minimum ages for employment and shall regulate working conditions.
The State has an obligation to ensure that child victims of armed conflicts, torture, maltreatment or exploitation receive appropriate treatment for their recovery and social reintegratio
Children have the right to protection from the use of narcotic and psychotropic drugs, and from being involved in their production or distribution.
No child shall be subjected to torture, cruel treatment or punishment, unlawful arrest or deprivation of liberty. Both capital punishment and life imprisonment without the possibility for release are prohibited for offences committed by persons below age 18.
4 Children rights
ARTICLE 33
ARTICLE 6
Life
Every child has the inherent right to life, and the State has an obligation to ensure the child’s survival and development.
click to edit
All government departments should do everything they can to ensure the survival and development of children. For example, government should set up more schools so that we children have opportunities to continue their schoolwork.
A minimum income for every family with children should be secured by the government and reports should be available about its provision
Children must have a health insurance for making sure that they will grow up without health challenges make their growth difficult.’
ARTICLE 39
Rehabilitative care
The State has an obligation to ensure that child victims of armed conflicts, torture, maltreatment or exploitation receive appropriate treatment for their recovery and social reintegration.
Children have the right to protection from the use of narcotic and psychotropic drugs, and from being involved in their production or distribution.
Protection from drug abuse
ARTICLE 34
Freedom from sexual exploitation
The State shall protect children from sexual exploitation and abuse, including prostitution and involvement in pornography.
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to promote physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration of a child victim of: any form of neglect, exploitation, or abuse; torture or any other form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; or armed conflicts. Such recovery and reintegration shall take place in an environment which fosters the health, self-respect and dignity of the child.
Governments should put in place measures to rehabilitate any child who has been a victim of any form of violence, including neglect, abuse, torture and conflict, among others. These measures include appropriate healthcare, social services and legal assistance, among others. These should all be adapted to children’s needs and take place in an environment that promotes their health, dignity and self-respect.
States Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislative, administrative, social and educational measures, to protect children from the illicit use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances as defined in the relevant international treaties, and to prevent the use of children in the illicit production and trafficking of such substances.
Drug use among children poses a threat to their survival, development and their health. However, in many places, children who use drugs are dealt with in the criminal justice system instead of getting the help they need. What's more, a refusal to believe that children take drugs means that children are often unable to access rehabilitation and harm reduction services. People say we need to protect children, but the best protection is to give them the honest and objective information and services they need to make good choices.
States Parties undertake to protect the child from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. For these purposes, States Parties shall in particular take all appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent:
(a) The inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity
(b) The exploitative use of children in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practises;
(c) The exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials.
Sexual abuse and exploitation has severe and long-term repercussions for children. Not only are their bodies in physical danger, but abuse can leave permanent scars on children’s mental health. Sexual violence against children happens much more than people think. The Council of Europe says that one child in five in Europe is thought to be a victim. In 70 to 85 per cent of cases, children know their aggressors but few cases are ever reported to the authorities.
States Parties recognize that every child has the inherent right to life.
States Parties shall ensure to the maximum extent possible the survival and development of the child.
States should manifestly not kill children (e.g. through the death penalty, arbitrary executions, etc.). They should also put measures in place to allow children to survive into adulthood in conditions optimal for their development, including through combating child mortality, and providing healthcare, nutrition, sanitation and drinking water. They should protect children from harmful traditional practices such as early marriage and “honour killings”.
, I would say that we lean towards a human rights-based approach much more than a humanitarian approach to rehabilitation of children, meaning that our ideal approach would be to do whatever it takes to bring rehabilitation. It’s true that in many of the humanitarian contexts where torture and trauma services are needed, we have overwhelming needs beyond the resources that are available, and the most practical thing is to do is short-term psychosocial support in emergency humanitarian situations. We play a key role helping survivors cope with ongoing stressors and building resiliency, but is this enough for children torture survivors? And does it meet the right to full rehabilitation?
typical intervention framework follows a tri-phasic model of trauma recovery, with initial focus on stabilization, then exploration of trauma memories, and finally broader integration of self and community. The treatment period lasts at least 10 weeks, with a full assessment at the beginning and regular follow-ups. When appropriate, part of the treatment includes trauma processing, which is necessary to heal and break the cycle of avoidance, hyper-arousal and re-experiencing the torture situation again.
Children and adult torture survivors often enter treatment with many multi-layered and interdependent needs; with complex and severe torture history; and often are trying to recover from torture within the context of other stressors. In fact, when one understands torture as the use of intolerable pain to destroy the physical and psychological integrity of the individual, family and community, one also must conclude that an integrative approach to recovery is necessary. Treatment needs to be re-integrative and multidisciplinary to heal the complex wounds of torture, and to address a broad array of physical, psychological, relational, and psychosocial injuries. Treatment should as well take into account the fact that the damaging effects on children from their traumatic experiences are further exacerbated by their parents and guardians who are also suffering their own significant traumatic experiences.
I am interested in these rights since I know many people who have experienced similar situations, making them a right for kids that I deeply respect it.
e