Human rights are the fundamental rights that human beings have by virtue of being human, and that are neither created nor can be abrogated by any government. As stipulated by several international conventions and treaties (such as the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human rights in 1948), these rights include cultural, economic, and political rights, such as right to life, liberty, education and equality before law, and right of association, belief, free speech, information, religion, movement, and nationality. Promulgation of these rights is not binding on any country, but they serve as a standard of concern for people and form the basis of many modern national constitutions.
Although they were defined first by the Scottish philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) as absolute moral claims or entitlements to life, liberty, and property, the best-known expression of human rights is in the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776 which proclaims that ‘all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity.’ They are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world, from birth until death. They apply regardless of where you are from, what you believe or how you choose to live your life.
Human rights are natural entitlement and can never be taken away, although they can sometimes be restricted, for example if a person breaks the law, or in the interests of national security. These basic rights are based on shared values like dignity, fairness, equality, respect and independence. These values are defined and protected by law.
Child rights are the human rights that are specific for children as set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Children (CRC). The CRC is a UN international treaty that sets out the basic human rights that all children everywhere are entitled to. It was drafted in 1989 and came into force in 1990. There are 54 articles in the CRC that spell out all the rights of all human beings below the age of 18 years. It is the most widely ratified (agreed to) of all the international human rights treaties. With the exception of the United States of America, every other country in the world has ratified the CRC.
It is a very important document because it makes it clear that children have human rights, individual identities, are in need of some protection and have voices that must be listened to and given due weight. It established a direct relationship between a child and the State, and where the rights and obligations lie in this relationship on issues like children’s right to health, freedom of expression, the right to be free from violence, the right to privacy and many more. There are therefore a number of rights in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which apply specifically to children. These include, for example, the obligation to consider their views, and limitations on the use of children in armed conflict.
Child rights are human rights that specifically provide for the protection of children. They are also human beings and so they must enjoy all fundamental human rights like everybody else – from the right to freedom of expression to the right to privacy. This means all human rights apply equally to children and adults. Children’s rights are about treating children with the equality, respect and dignity to which they are entitled, not because they are the tomorrow’s adults, but because they are human beings today.
However, children face particular exclusions and discrimination against which they have a right to full protection. The fact that children are not adults, and the low social status afforded to them in most societies, means they may receive unfair treatment, or be left out of decision-making. For example, in almost every country children under 18 are denied political power because they cannot vote, and most countries allow parents to beat their children, even though they would be prosecuted for assault if they beat another adult. Children’s status in society, among other factors, also means they are more vulnerable to sexual abuse and other forms of violence and exploitation.
The rights of hundreds of millions of children are violated. They die early, or have their right to survival and development permanently warped by poverty, lack of food and clean water, and the denial of/discriminatory access to basic health services. They are recruited into armed forces, as well as physically, sexually and emotionally abused. In India for example, according to the UN, over 100 million children and born into child labor and are forced to live their entire childhood as slaves. While some children have plentiful access to the most nutritious food, the best education and free healthcare, others die before their first birthday.
Some may argue that if human rights apply to all human beings, then we do not need ‘special’ rights for children. While human rights do indeed apply to all, as mentioned above, children’s developmental status and the particular exclusions and discrimination they face demand special provision. Children traditionally have been regarded as possessions of their parents, not individual people or rights holders. Children may be exposed to unfair, discriminatory treatment as a result of such societal views. This is why there are a number of rights in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which apply especially to children and are not provided for in human rights law generally. These include specific rights to education, to protection from sexual exploitation and abuse including child pornography, the right not only to express their views, but to have them given due weight in all matters concerning them, and the right to be detained only as a last resort.
In conclusion, it is true that human rights are similar to children’s rights, based on the intention of those who coned these rights, the overall purpose was to ensure that there is a universally recognized instrument that spells out the rights accrued to human beings. The separation of children’s rights is necessitated by the degree of vulnerability that children specifically face, that ideally make them unable to enjoy the universal rights like adults would. It is by virtue of their vulnerability that a rights regime is specifically set out for them.
Discuss how child rights are abused and how they are being enforced or empowered by clearly stating some organizations involved.
Children represent another group where human rights abuse occurs largely outside the public domain, in the private or domestic sphere. The place of children in society and in the family has changed with time and also varies in different cultural contexts. Because of this, the idea of the rights of the child, as part of an overall understanding of human rights, is controversial. There are numerous instances where children’s rights are abused. Some of these include:
Child trafficking, sacrifice and forceful conscription armed conflicts: Acts of child trafficking, amount to violations of child rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). In Uganda alone, according to the Police Report (2017), a total number of 432 suspects were linked to child sacrifice and attempting to sell children. Such violations disproportionately affect child rights to life, health and education. At regional perspective, 5 million children in conflict-affected countries including Uganda, are denied access to education and health. As these children face denial of such rights, their lives are then synchronized with socio-economic and political exclusion, perhaps this explains the cyclical poverty among children.
Child prostitution and sexual assault: Article 34(b) of CRC states that; ‘state parties shall in particular take appropriate national, bilateral and multilateral measures to prevent the exploitative use of children in prostitution and other unlawful sexual practices’. However, majority of children continue to engage in prostitution which often increases their risks to early pregnancies and HIV/AIDs. In many countries, child marriage is a widespread and commonly condoned practice. Similarly, many children have been steadily lured into vices such as homosexuality, drug trafficking and smoking. These illicit tendencies are associated with negative impacts especially on the social and mental wellbeing of children. More still, All over the world, over 23% of the children are exposed to their first sexual encounter before the age of 15. This results into increased school drop outs and early pregnancies consequently causing higher maternal and child mortality rates.
Discrimination against CWDs: The rights of children with disabilities are largely recognized under article 23 (1), (2) and (3) of CRC, therein, mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life, and should have effective access to education, training, health care services, rehabilitation services and preparation for employment. In many instances, children with disabilities are not able to enjoy the mentioned rights due to the fact that their lives are often discriminated against, which lowers their dignity and active participation in the community. In some countries, disabled children are ostracized as being cursed or evil spirits and are often left to die, or in some cases intentionally killed.
Children detained with adult offenders: According to the UHRC (2012), Out of 790 children in the formal juvenile justice system, 135 had been rounded up from the streets of Kampala and taken to detention centers. The manner in which these children are rounded up is wanting and are not consulted, yet children have a right to participate in issues affecting their lives. Additionally, the detention centers in which these children are taken to lack sufficient clothing and bedding for the children.
UHRC notes that resettling and rehabilitating street children without addressing the factors that send children to the streets is an unsustainable solution in the long run. There is an urgent need to address the causes and not symptoms. The factors that push and pull children on streets must be addressed. The Children’s Act, Prison Act and the 1995 Constitution of Uganda prohibit a remand of a child in an adult prison, however this remains not fully achieved, as noted by UHRC(2012), that children incarcerated with adult offenders makes them more vulnerable as it exposes them to violence, abuse and mistreatment.
Cruel treatment and torture against Children: Continuous cruel treatment exerted to children by traditional practices such as female genital mutilation and torturing of children using harmful objects such as sticks, metals and knives threaten their lives and health per se, through causing physical injuries (burns, pinches, cuts, bruises and impairments). All these go on with impunity and the perpetrators are protected in the name of parental discipline, the proverbial “spare a stick and spoil a child”.
Owing to the numerous ongoing violations against children’s rights and the impunity with which it’s carried out, no one country can effectively address child rights violations. It’s in this line that collaborations have been formed between and among local and international agencies to protect the rights of children. Some of the organizations involved in the child safety efforts include:
UNICEF: Created to distribute lifesaving aid to children in the aftermath of World War II to fighting Ebola, the UNICEF has been involved in mobilizing resources to attend to the needs of vulnerable children, from sanitation, child protection, education, health among others, all over the world for over 70 years now.
Save the Children: This helps children in their everyday needs in times of crisis. Around the world, they give children a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. By transforming children’s lives now, Save the Children changes the course of their future and that of the humanity as a whole.
Plan International: Founded in 1937, Plan International is a development and humanitarian organization that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. They strive for a just world, working together with children, young people, and partners.
ChildFund: The people behind ChildFund aim to help children by strengthening relationships among children, parents, community members, local organizations, teachers and schools, governments and others.
Action against Hunger: Continuously saving lives while building long-term strategies for self-sufficiency. Their global efforts save hundreds of thousands of lives each year, but millions of malnourished children remain in need of lifesaving treatment.
References
Archard, D. (2004) Children: Rights and Childhood (2nd ed.), London: Routledge
Convention on the rights of the Children
Hammarberg. T. (2008) No real development without human rights’, Lecture on the inter-relationship between development and human rights when implementing the UN Millennium Development Goals, Trinity College, Dublin.
Steiner, B., Alston, G. & Goodman, R. (2007) International Human Rights in Context, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Theis, J. (2004). Promoting Rights-Based Approaches: Experiences and Ideas from Asia and the Pacific, Stockholm: Save the Children Sweden
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948
Van Bueren, G. (1999). Combating Child Poverty – Human Rights Approaches, Human Rights Quarterly 21(3), 680-706