tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/childrens-rights-8932/articlesChildren's rights – The Conversation2024-03-14T13:28:31Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2227832024-03-14T13:28:31Z2024-03-14T13:28:31ZThe problem with seeing young sportspeople as athletes first, children second<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580928/original/file-20240311-28-snw1iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=48%2C66%2C3991%2C2362&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-girl-swims-freestyle-pool-377909347">RomanSo/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.reuters.com/sports/swim-england-promises-change-after-report-points-culture-fear-clubs-2024-03-06/">recent report</a> commissioned by Swim England, the national governing body for swimming in England, has found evidence of a “culture of fear” in swimming clubs. The report finds that children involved in competitive swimming can be treated like professional athletes, and the importance of sporting performance held above all else. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.internationaljournalofwellbeing.org/index.php/ijow/article/view/1461?articlesBySimilarityPage=3">Sport can be</a> a positive influence on young people’s wellbeing. Children are encouraged to participate in sport, and the aspiration to become an elite athlete is widely seen as an admirable goal. </p>
<p>Many children will find competitive sport enjoyable and rewarding. But problems can occur when the athletic identity of a young person overshadows their identity as a child. There is a risk that clubs, coaches and parents may treat young people as athletes rather than as children. And this can take place at all levels of sport, from children taking part in sports like swimming at local clubs to those who compete at the highest level. </p>
<p>One participant in the Swim England report said that a focus on swimming performance led to their social and academic life suffering, and that they would frequently push themselves in training to the point of vomiting or collapse to please their coach. “The way in which the sport is delivered to children and hiding under the label of ‘high performance athletes’ is driving people away from the sport they once loved,” they said. </p>
<p>“We’re not here to have fun, we’re here to win!” one parent told a researcher for the Swim England report. </p>
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<p>A focus on sporting success above all can compromise children’s wellbeing and safety. Young people may be exposed to environments that are highly pressurised, psychologically demanding and often tolerant of abuse. </p>
<p>Certain practices that take place in youth sports, such as coaches and parents <a href="https://uefa-safeguarding.eu/video-my-magic-sports-kit-nspcc">screaming on the sidelines</a>, that would be considered unacceptable in other settings. A teacher would be unable to behave like this towards their charges in a school setting, for instance. </p>
<p>In football academies, child athletes are potential future stars – and money spinners. A business mindset shifts the focus from nurturing children to moulding them <a href="https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/77510669/Rights_risks_and_responsibilities_Accepted_Aug_2019.pdf">into “assets”</a> for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2023/sep/05/youth-academies-premier-league-clubs-revenue-stream">potential profit</a>. </p>
<p>Treating children like products rather than unique individuals with their own childhood experiences overshadows children’s vital developmental needs. </p>
<h2>Accelerated adulthoods</h2>
<p>Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp recently spoke about the need to protect young football players, including from <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68429635#:%7E:text=Liverpool%20manager%20Jurgen%20Klopp%20moved,win%20against%20Southampton%20on%20Wednesday">media attention</a>, as academy youth players made their debut in senior-level games. “But from tomorrow, leave the boys in the corner, please. And don’t ask: ‘Where are they now? Where are they now? Where are they now?’” <a href="https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/jurgen-klopp-makes-luke-littler-28720774">he told reporters</a> after Liverpool’s FA cup win over Southampton.</p>
<p>Darts player Luke Littler competed in the World Darts Championships and other major darts tournaments at the age of 16. Littler has received intense levels of public scrutiny that extended beyond the reaches of sport: his private life, including his relationship status, has <a href="https://www.gbnews.com/sport/other-sport/luke-littler-girlfriend-eloise-milburn-world-darts-championship">made headlines</a>. </p>
<p>Attention on the personal life of a minor rushes them towards adulthood but also shows a lack of respect for the privacy of young athletes: a significant safeguarding concern. </p>
<p>Children’s names have even been included in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/feb/14/kamila-valieva-free-to-compete-at-winter-olympics-after-provisional-doping-suspension-overturned">reports about doping</a>. <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/kamila-valieva-was-plied-with-56-medicines-between-ages-of-13-and-15-25tnw3d52">Kamila Valieva</a>, a Russian figure skater, experienced the unwelcome publicity of having her <a href="https://apnews.com/article/valieva-russian-doping-skating-beijing-olympics-strawberry-9f1e97255796d56841cc278c1f753087">positive test</a> revealed at the age of just 15, causing controversy at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.</p>
<p>This stands in stark contrast to practices elsewhere, such as in <a href="https://yjlc.uk/resources/legal-terms-z/anonymity">courts of law</a>. Article 16 of the <a href="https://www.unicef.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/UNCRC_summary-1_1.pdf">UN Convention on the Rights of the Child</a> outlines children’s right to privacy. </p>
<h2>A balanced approach</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21640629.2021.1990655">Children have the right</a> to be protected from all forms of harm in sport. This extends to their right to participate in sports within a safe and enjoyable environment. There are evidently distinct challenges that arise when young people compete in elite and often adult-dominated sporting spaces. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17430437.2023.2268555">abuse of children in sports</a> is a concern at both community and elite levels. It is essential to address these concerns to ensure that the pursuit of athletic excellence does not come at the cost of the fundamental rights and safety of young people. </p>
<p>When children are treated solely as athletes, the excitement around <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/feb/14/freddy-adu-was-just-like-messi-what-happened-to-americas-pele?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">their potential</a> means that the fact that they are still minors may be forgotten. They must be recognised as children first, especially when their performance in elite sports takes place prior to reaching adulthood. </p>
<p>It is the moral obligation of all adults involved in sport to develop an approach that keeps children in sport safe, even when they are classed as elite athletes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222783/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A focus on sporting success can compromise children’s wellbeing and safety.Ellie Gennings, Senior Lecturer in Sport Coaching, Bournemouth UniversityAlice Hunter, Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching, Bournemouth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2167242023-12-07T21:08:46Z2023-12-07T21:08:46ZWhen ‘rights’ divide: Trans kids need supportive families<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/when-rights-divide-trans-kids-need-supportive-families" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Protests in support of “parental rights” have taken place across Canada in recent months. Many taking part in these demonstrations have railed against “gender ideology” in school curricula and <a href="https://canadians.org/analysis/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-parental-rights-protests/#">mixed bathrooms</a>. </p>
<p>Much of this rhetoric is based upon the transphobic fallacy that age-appropriate inclusive health education will somehow manufacture queer and trans children all over the place. </p>
<p>The rights of young people to determine their identities are being stripped away, beginning in <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-brunswicks-lgbtq-safe-schools-debate-makes-false-opponents-of-parents-and-teachers-207600">New Brunswick</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/saskatchewan-naming-and-pronoun-policy-the-best-interests-of-children-must-guide-provincial-parental-consent-rules-212431">Saskatchewan</a>. The rights of a trans and non-binary child or youth to be referred to by their name, and to be treated with respect by having their gender affirmed, are being eroded across Canada. </p>
<p>These policies put children and youth at risk, and they reinforce a false opposition between “parents’ rights” and children’s rights. </p>
<h2>Pitting parents against their kids</h2>
<p>Lacking support from family is one of the strongest predictors of trans and non-binary youth <a href="https://transpulsecanada.ca/results/report-health-and-well-being-among-trans-and-non-binary-youth/">attempting suicide</a>. Let that sink in. A trans kid’s family — their support, acceptance, dismissal or rejection — are the most important factor in whether a young person considers ending their life. </p>
<p>More than 10 years ago, researchers had already made strong connections between the support that trans youth received within their families and self-esteem, depression, suicidality, satisfaction with life and long-term overall <a href="http://transpulseproject.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Impacts-of-Strong-Parental-Support-for-Trans-Youth-vFINAL.pdf">mental health</a>.</p>
<p>The term “dead name” is used to denote the pre-transition name of a trans or non-binary person. This term exists for a reason, because forcing a child to deny their gender identity can cause their mental health to suffer.</p>
<p>If parents, educators, schools and provincial governments really care about the health and well-being of our youth, we must oppose enacting policies that create a false dichotomy between the “rights” of parents and the rights of children and youth. We must instead help families of trans and non-binary youth to come together instead of be torn apart.</p>
<p>Respondents in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2014.886321">research focused on minority stress and trans youth</a> reported daily bullying in school and higher levels of sexual and physical assault, with poorer mental and physical health overall compared to non-trans participants.</p>
<p>Data indicates 59 per cent of transgender and non-binary people in Canada <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/26895269.2023.2278064">have reported being misgendered daily</a>, an experience that can be devastating to a young person <a href="https://transpulsecanada.ca/results/report-health-and-well-being-among-non-binary-people/">coming out into themselves</a>. </p>
<h2>Dangerous silencing</h2>
<p>Silences can be dangerous. I didn’t even hear the word “lesbian” growing up in 1980s, conservative Canadian suburbs. In this shiny, white, middle-class Protestant world, silence about all forms of difference was a constant. But when I moved into the world I realized how our lives were veiled in layers of embedded racism, homophobia and <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3173834">compulsory heterosexuality</a>.</p>
<p>To be clear, the silence and invisibility of lesbians, and even the invisibility of the word “lesbian” did not stop me from becoming a great big, card-carrying queer. </p>
<p>However, hearing the word at the right time might have stopped me from marrying a gay man at 19 and embarking upon a lavender marriage that was doomed from its inception. Silently and unconsciously we did what we “knew” to be the only road we could travel: we bought a house, we had babies, we spun through the tidal force of sanctioned heterosexuality and we still came out the other side flaming like rockets in the night, queers. </p>
<p>The invisibility we experienced and faced only made the road to authentic living and loving, much longer and harder, and it created so much more collateral damage. I tell this story because the way trans and non-binary youth are being repressed and made invisible today reminds me of the abyss of invisibility I faced. </p>
<p>So, when we pit the “rights” of parents against the rights of children and youth to have a safe, accepting and affirming family and school environment, we are assuming that these are in opposition. </p>
<p>Instead, we need to explore these questions through a systems lens. That is, we need to consider the whole: parents, siblings, the trans/non-binary youth, the school system, all of the systems in which the children or youth are swimming. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563473/original/file-20231204-17-96yucz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person holding another person's hand consolingly" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563473/original/file-20231204-17-96yucz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/563473/original/file-20231204-17-96yucz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563473/original/file-20231204-17-96yucz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563473/original/file-20231204-17-96yucz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563473/original/file-20231204-17-96yucz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563473/original/file-20231204-17-96yucz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/563473/original/file-20231204-17-96yucz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We must help families of trans and non-binary youth to come together instead of be torn apart.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Overcoming transphobia with family support</h2>
<p>There are situations where parents, teachers or others in a child’s life are irreconcilably transphobic, and this is not going to shift. However, in my extensive experience as a queer, gender non-conforming clinical psychologist, I have seen parents come around and find a way to affirm their child’s gender. </p>
<p>This was achieved through persistence, education and empathy. I had to make space for a parent’s fears, and even space for the transphobic comments and the concerns they produced (while shielding their children from those conversations).</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/family-support-protects-trans-young-people-but-their-families-need-support-too-202743">The family must continue to show up</a>, trying to find their way to their child. My job was to protect their child from their parents’ fear and transphobia while holding the parents as they tried to find their way. When this hard work by all parties was successful, the well-being of that child or youth was vastly improved and they finally had the support they needed to find their way through a frequently transphobic world. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-parents-can-support-a-child-who-comes-out-as-trans-by-conquering-their-own-fears-following-their-childs-lead-and-tolerating-ambiguity-158275">How parents can support a child who comes out as trans – by conquering their own fears, following their child's lead and tolerating ambiguity</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<p>I have also worked with families who could not overcome their views. A father who simply could not let go of rigid Catholic theological interpretations that cast his child as damaged, a mother who had experienced her own traumas in ways that made it very hard for her to be flexible, leaving her child out in the cold. </p>
<p>I have worked with many, many families over decades and most of the time, they can find their way to accepting and affirming their trans and non-binary child. For the few who can’t, what do we do in those situations? We certainly must not enact <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick-trans-lgbtq-higgs-1.6889957">laws and policies</a> to “protect” their “rights.” </p>
<p>Instead, we need find ways to support those young people whose parents deny their existence, experience and identity. So many just need to hear that they exist and learn that they are okay, just as they are.</p>
<p><em>Miles Cooke and Jamie Zarn, research assistants on Heather MacIntosh’s research team at McGill University, also contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216724/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heather B MacIntosh receives funding from SSHRC</span></em></p>In the wake of transphobic protests, the ‘rights’ of parents are being falsely positioned in opposition to the rights of transgender and non-binary children rather than focusing on supporting families.Heather B MacIntosh, Associate Professor, Director, MScA Couple and Family Therapy, School of Social Work, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2141062023-10-23T22:16:05Z2023-10-23T22:16:05ZListening to youth voices was missing in the COVID-19 pandemic response<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554558/original/file-20231018-25-ozrg72.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C318%2C4916%2C3431&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One student in a study said they would have loved to receive emails about school closures: 'I always had to ask my parents. Sometimes they don’t read the emails.'
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/listening-to-youth-voices-was-missing-in-the-covid-19-pandemic-response" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The new school year has brought about <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9914128/canada-covid-fall-wave-2023/">another increase in COVID-19 cases</a>. </p>
<p>As we face the future, it’s important to reflect on the past. Learning from how we weathered the pandemic can help improve our response to the ongoing presence of COVID-19 and the potential emergence of other diseases. </p>
<p>By examining youths’ experiences during the pandemic, especially the cycles of school closures and re-openings, we can shed light on policies and protocols during the COVID-19 response. </p>
<p>Government and school communication was a key part of the pandemic response. Based on research with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2023.2239327">youth about their experiences in the pandemic, we found that communication and meaningful discussions</a> with youth were noticeably missing from this response.</p>
<p>We have an opportunity to improve how we support youths’ rights. An appropriate pandemic response requires more than <a href="https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023HLTH0121-001523">promoting healthy habits to protect against infection</a>. Youth voices need to be included and taken seriously on the matters that impact them.</p>
<h2>The school context</h2>
<p>School communities are key for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03323315.2022.2088593">delivering public health initiatives and connecting youth to mental-health resources, especially during recovery from disasters</a>. </p>
<p>Research during the pandemic response highlighted both negative and positive experiences of school closures. </p>
<p>Some students expressed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsab107">concerns about grades, school workload</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/07435584231151902">loss of routine</a>, yet some enjoyed a lighter school workload, having more time to spend with family, and for relaxation and hobbies or creative pursuits. Others experienced symptoms of anxiety, depression and loneliness, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22453">along with increases in family conflict and loss of important life milestones</a>. </p>
<h2>Youths’ rights</h2>
<p>Article 12 of the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child</a> states <a href="https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/52405">children have the right to have a voice in all matters that affect them</a>. </p>
<p>Therefore, ensuring youth voices are a central focus of all policies, programs and research that targets them should be a priority. </p>
<p>In collaboration with a youth committee, who ensured the methods and interview guide would be relevant to youth experiences, we conducted research interviews. We asked youth participants about their daily lives during the pandemic, and their experiences of the cycles of school closures and re-openings and safety protocols.</p>
<p>We also asked them about changes to their mental health, and the availability of support during the pandemic.</p>
<p>Lastly, we asked youth about the changes they hoped to see in the future and their recommendations for schools and policymakers.</p>
<h2>Interviews with teens</h2>
<p>We conducted 30 one-on-one interviews with secondary school students (spanning Grades 8-12) in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Québec. We recruited participants through Instagram posts in English and French. Participants ranged in age from 13 to 18 years old. Sixteen participants self-identified as female and 14 as male. Fourteen students self-identified as white and 16 students self-identified in a variety of ways we coded as IBPOC (Indigenous, Black or a person of colour). The names of participants in the study were replaced with pseudonyms to protect participant anonymity.</p>
<p>Two of our main findings were focused on a lack of direct communication and engagement with youth in decision-making during the pandemic and the challenges youth faced in accessing appropriate mental-health support. </p>
<h2>Lack of youth voice</h2>
<p>Many students in the study discussed the results of sudden pandemic-related decisions (like virtual or in-person school learning mode) and how they were left out of the conversation. </p>
<p>Most students felt overlooked due to the lack of direct communication with them, which impacted students’ awareness and understanding of the protocols and policies that were necessary for their participation in school. </p>
<p>One Québec student, Jeanne, explained, “I would have loved to receive emails about school, the closures … I always had to ask my parents. Sometimes they don’t read the emails.” </p>
<p>Youth also stressed the lack of youth voice in pandemic-related decisions, particularly on school formats. </p>
<p>Hamza, also from Québec, explained, “Usually, youths want to control everything and be part of the decision-making, but with COVID, it was different … we had to sit and listen to suggestions without being able to speak.”</p>
<h2>Need for appropriate mental-health support</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A youth seen with a baskeball and an empty court." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554561/original/file-20231018-21-jsdhtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/554561/original/file-20231018-21-jsdhtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554561/original/file-20231018-21-jsdhtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554561/original/file-20231018-21-jsdhtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554561/original/file-20231018-21-jsdhtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554561/original/file-20231018-21-jsdhtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/554561/original/file-20231018-21-jsdhtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=939&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some students described facing challenges accessing appropriate mental-health support.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Unsurprisingly, most students in the study noted a decline in their mental health, regardless of whether they had mental-health concerns or diagnoses prior to the pandemic. </p>
<p>When asked if or how their pandemic experiences and subsequent lifestyle changes had impacted their mental health, students generally described feeling “frustrated,” “angry,” “overwhelmed,” “burnt out,” “hopeless” and “helpless.”</p>
<p>They also faced limitations to independence and faced challenges accessing appropriate mental-health support.</p>
<p>Drew, from Ontario, explained: </p>
<p>“Nobody really helps … specifically with finding someone to help you out with [mental-health problems] … It’s not easy to find support.” </p>
<p>While some students in the study felt they had trusted adults (like teachers and parents) to whom they could talk to, others discussed concerns around: confidentiality in the school environment; a lack of knowledge of how or where to access support; limited school staff for mental-health support; and whether the available supports would be helpful. </p>
<p>Parents were discussed as potential barriers to services that students were aware of. Many students worried their parents would not approve of them accessing mental-health services, and some required parental support to access services (for example, for transportation or payments).</p>
<h2>Meet youth where they’re at</h2>
<p>The challenges that youth discussed are not restricted to the pandemic context. We can learn from these experiences by prioritizing the meaningful involvement of youth in decision-making processes. </p>
<p>Meaningful youth engagement can result in more relevant and effective policies, programs and services. Our findings emphasize the need to meet youth where they’re at, by providing them with accurate information in spaces they access most often (like social media or school contexts). </p>
<p>When we asked youth for their recommendations for adults, the overwhelming response was: talk to youth. As Rebecca from Alberta noted: If it’s a matter that is affecting us, it’s important that we have input on it.</p>
<p>This is also their right, and is protected <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/fl-lf/divorce/crc-crde/conv2a.html">in international law</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214106/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen A. Patte received funding from SickKids Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for this research.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terrance J. Wade has received funding from the Canadian federal Tri-Council funding agencies including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). He has also received funding from the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Valerie Michaelson receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fund, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the New Frontiers in Research Fund. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica A. Goddard and Negin Riazi do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Insights from youth about COVID-19 school closures and youth exclusion from pandemic-related decisions suggest we have an opportunity to improve how we support youths’ rights.Negin Riazi, Health Promotion Specialist - Knowledge Translation and Exchange, University of British ColumbiaJessica A. Goddard, PhD Student Investigating Child and Youth Mental Health, Brock UniversityKaren A. Patte, Canada Research Chair in Child Health Equity and Inclusion and Associate Professor, Department of Health Sciences, Brock UniversityTerrance J. Wade, Professor of Health Sciences, Brock UniversityValerie Michaelson, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Sciences, Brock UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2110932023-09-26T22:51:51Z2023-09-26T22:51:51ZFamily vlogs can entertain, empower and exploit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548388/original/file-20230914-27-rfrjml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C23%2C5329%2C3523&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Family vlogs can be a double-edged sword that provide families with income, but also lead to exploitation.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/family-vlogs-can-entertain-empower-and-exploit" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>YouTube channels belonging to American content creator Ruby Franke were recently <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9960389/ruby-franke-youtube-kevin-jodi-hildebrandt/">scrubbed from the site</a> after the YouTuber was charged with child abuse. Franke was known for making parenting videos on her YouTube channel, 8 Passengers. Her videos frequently featured content on the family and her six children.</p>
<p>Police in Utah said the charges were laid after Franke’s 12-year-old son <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2023/09/05/heres-what-we-know-about-arrest/">climbed out of the window</a> of a home and went to a neighbour to ask for food and water. Police said the boy and his younger sister were found emaciated and required hospitalization. </p>
<p>As blogs and live journals gather internet dust, <a href="https://www.wix.com/blog/photography/how-to-vlog">vlogging</a> has emerged as a new source of intimate entertainment, and for creators, potential income. However, they also raise serious questions about exploitation and the privacy rights of children.</p>
<h2>What is vlogging?</h2>
<p>Vlogs are videos, usually published through social media, that share the creator’s personal thoughts and experiences. Family vlogs like Franke’s are a popular form of this medium, where parents take viewers into their homes. The content might involve taking viewers along on the family’s daily routine. Family vlogging channels upload videos sharing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq1hI0Mmyic">significant milestones</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxUHjIFkeIk&t=401s">morning routines</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkpvqOUrWec">preparing for school</a>. </p>
<p>Many might feel uneasy about <a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-be-a-social-media-influencer-you-might-want-to-think-again-203306">content creation</a> that showcases private family life. However, at the same time, vlogs might offer families agency and alternative means of making ends meet at a time of stagnant wages and soaring living costs.</p>
<p>Thinking about vlogging as a kind of social reproduction allows us to think through the double-edged sword of content creation. Social reproduction refers to the labour of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8330.00207">lifemaking</a>: the day-to-day work of care, education and sustenance. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132518791730">Feminist theorists</a> use this term to think about the ways in which caring labour supports and shapes our social, political and economic world.</p>
<p>Social reproduction is “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8330.00207">the fleshy, messy and indeterminate stuff of everyday life</a>.” It involves the responsibilities and relationships involved in maintaining daily life.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544800/original/file-20230825-21-qhucf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man and two young children sit in front of cameras and a laptop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544800/original/file-20230825-21-qhucf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544800/original/file-20230825-21-qhucf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544800/original/file-20230825-21-qhucf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544800/original/file-20230825-21-qhucf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544800/original/file-20230825-21-qhucf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544800/original/file-20230825-21-qhucf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544800/original/file-20230825-21-qhucf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Many might feel uneasy about content that showcases private family life. However, vlogs offer alternative means of making ends meet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>A response to the pressures of parenting</h2>
<p>Family vlogging did not develop in a vacuum. Instead, the trend towards “mumpreneurs” emerged from within a <a href="https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii100/articles/nancy-fraser-contradictions-of-capital-and-care">care crisis</a>. The cost of living is rising, wages are stagnating, and government benefits do not provide the support families need. Parents — and mothers in particular — are facing significant pressures when it comes to caring for children and the household.</p>
<p>There has been a rise in gender equity in the workforce, however there is still <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-can-we-reduce-gender-inequality-in-housework-heres-how-58130">huge inequity</a> when it comes to work in the home. Women are working unprecedented (paid and unpaid) hours, and are often being told they are <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/series/women-work-more/143-amanda-watson.html">failing at both</a>.</p>
<p>As a response to these pressures, mothers developed their own online communities to express the <a href="https://jarm.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jarm/article/view/40238">highs and lows of parenting</a>. These communities began as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2016.1187642">“mommy blogs,”</a> but have increasingly moved to vlog format over the years. </p>
<p>Family vlogs can offer intimate counter-narratives to the expectations of parenthood. Mothers can share <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/17504813221123663">the anxieties and pressures they face</a> and offer support to one another.</p>
<h2>Commodifying families</h2>
<p>However, there can be downsides to the trend. Many family vlogs are highly curated productions that can perpetuate ideas about what constitutes “good” motherhood, rather than challenge racialized, gendered and classist <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305117707186">ideals of motherhood</a>. In this way, vlogs are less about connection and more about commodification.</p>
<p>The implications of this monetization are complex. Performing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ccc/tcy008">socially desirable</a> forms of motherhood can reproduce racial, sexual and class-based exclusion around who does and who does not count as a good mother. Dominant ideas of “motherhood” are shaped by heterosexual family structures, and there is a <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/37354/women-race-and-class-by-angela-y-davis/">long history</a> of surveilling and <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781442691520/exalted-subjects/">disciplining</a> racialized parents.</p>
<p>YouTube <a href="https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/72851">creators</a> depend on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/intl/en_ph/creators/how-things-work/video-monetization/">viewership and subscribers</a> to monetize their content. They also use YouTube advertisements, sponsorships and brand deals to generate income. While some creators can make millions of dollars, most do not. Many are precarious workers with fluctuating incomes determined by <a href="https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/141805#zippy=%2Chow-does-youtube-choose-what-videos-to-promote%2Chow-are-videos-ranked-on-home">YouTube’s algorithm</a>. </p>
<p>On the other hand, content creation allows mothers to rebel against economic insecurity by making their motherhood a source of income. While this offers a means of paying the bills, who benefits and who doesn’t when a certain version of the family is commodified? </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544801/original/file-20230825-15-k4cmur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man and a young girl preparing food in a kitchen while a smartphone films" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544801/original/file-20230825-15-k4cmur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544801/original/file-20230825-15-k4cmur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544801/original/file-20230825-15-k4cmur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544801/original/file-20230825-15-k4cmur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544801/original/file-20230825-15-k4cmur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544801/original/file-20230825-15-k4cmur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544801/original/file-20230825-15-k4cmur.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Many content creators are dependent on social media algorithms that determine what content gets the most views.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Kids and clickbait: What is the law?</h2>
<p>Exploitation is twofold for family vloggers. Firstly, in the United States, parents are considered responsible for protecting their underage children’s privacy information and consent. Many influencers live or move to the U.S. for <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1987946563736">creator funds</a> and better networking opportunities. This can become an issue when <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-arent-there-any-legal-protections-for-the-children-of-influencers-196463">parents exploit their children</a> while also being <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/youtube-lets-lawless-lucrative-sharenting-industry-put-kids-mercy-internet-1635112">in charge of providing consent</a>. </p>
<p>Secondly, <a href="https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/research.google.com/en//pubs/archive/45530.pdf">social media algorithms</a> determine whether a video becomes popular on a platform, which <a href="https://www.youtube.com/intl/en_ca/creators/how-things-work/content-creation-strategy/">prioritizes content that gains the most views</a>.</p>
<p>The algorithms can <a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-be-a-social-media-influencer-you-might-want-to-think-again-203306">change without warning</a>, so creators never know if their content will remain popular. If family vloggers choose to stop showcasing their children on their channels, they might <a href="https://www.popsugar.com/family/posting-kids-faces-social-media-privacy-49045872">lose viewership</a> and priority within the algorithm.</p>
<p>Existing U.S. laws are unequipped to handle this new form of child labour. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/08/25/illinois-child-influencer-earnings-law-history-jackie-coogan/">The Coogan Act</a> attempts to protect the income of child performers, but it does not account for the unique conditions of child social media stars. </p>
<p>Most recently, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/child-influencers-law-illinois-reaction-rcna99831">Illinois is the first U.S. state</a> to pass a law to ensure child influencers featured in monetized videos receive financial compensation. The law will take effect in July 2024, and there is hope that other states will follow suit. </p>
<p>This is a good start, but it is not enough. Policymakers should also look at the steps France has taken to protect child influencers. In 2020, the country passed a law that gives children the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54447491">right to be forgotten</a>. This means that child influencers can request that the platform removes content featuring them without their parent’s permission.</p>
<p>Laws need to include more than financial compensation for child influencers. There need to be regulations protecting children’s privacy, rights to have content removed and preventing children from being overworked. There also needs to be a call for greater regulation and transparency of social media algorithms that control and manipulate what is profitable.</p>
<p>Whether it is entertainment, exploitation or employment, family vlogging is a reminder of the complex interconnections between care work and wage work. As the households of strangers stream across our screens, parents and lawmakers must think carefully about the impacts on families and children.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211093/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Hall receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christina Pilgrim does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Vlogging has emerged as a new source of intimate entertainment, and for creators, potential income. However, they also raise serious questions about exploitation and the privacy rights of children.Rebecca Hall, Assistant Professor, Global Development Studies, Queen's University, OntarioChristina Pilgrim, Master's student, Department of Sociology, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2123772023-08-29T05:58:10Z2023-08-29T05:58:10ZQueensland is not only trampling the rights of children, it is setting a concerning legal precedent<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545217/original/file-20230829-15-kralxz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=280%2C358%2C2086%2C1257&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last week, the Queensland parliament <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/25/keeping-kids-in-watch-houses-why-the-queensland-government-could-change-the-law-to-suit-itself">voted</a> to override its own human rights law in order to enable children to continue to be detained in police watch houses and adult detention facilities. </p>
<p>This was not the first time it had taken such a step. In March, the parliament <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/feb/21/queensland-to-override-states-human-rights-act-in-bid-to-make-breach-of-bail-an-offence-for-children">passed</a> amendments to override the state’s <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2019-005">Human Rights Act</a> to create an offence for children who breach bail conditions, require a sentencing court to consider a child’s bail history, and enable a child to be declared a serious repeat offender. </p>
<p>These moves have attracted a significant amount of criticism because they come so soon after the state’s Human Rights Act was adopted. And they are serious because children’s rights are the ones being trampled – twice – and children are among the most vulnerable members of our community, even when they commit crimes.</p>
<p>What has received less attention, however, is the fact the parliament’s actions also go against international human rights protections under treaties such as the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-civil-and-political-rights">International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights</a> and the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>. </p>
<p>In addition, overriding the Human Rights Act twice could create a pattern we should be extremely concerned about. </p>
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<h2>International human rights protections</h2>
<p>International conventions broadly obligate parties to make the best interests of children a primary consideration in all actions concerning them. These conventions and applicable international standards also assert that the incarceration of children should be a last resort and juveniles should be treated in an age-appropriate way in criminal justice proceedings. </p>
<p>The Queensland government relied on these specific international human rights protections when it drafted its Human Rights Act, which I have extensively reviewed in my <a href="https://store.lexisnexis.com.au/categories/practice-area/jurisdiction-827/an-annotated-guide-to-the-human-rights-act-2019-qld-skuan_annotated_guide_to_the_human_rights_act_2019_Qld">new book</a> (written with Peter Billings).</p>
<p>For instance, section 33 protects children’s rights in the criminal justice process, including a child’s right to be segregated from adults in detention and a convicted child’s right to receive age-appropriate treatment. </p>
<p>In addition, section 32(3) provides that a child charged with a criminal offence has the right to procedures that are age-appropriate and rehabilitation-focused.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/locking-up-kids-has-serious-mental-health-impacts-and-contributes-to-further-reoffending-194657">Locking up kids has serious mental health impacts and contributes to further reoffending</a>
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<p>These rights recognise that children are entitled to special protection because of their younger age, different needs and relative immaturity. Everyone detained by the government is vulnerable, but children are particularly so.</p>
<p>Although Australia has ratified both international conventions, it has done so with objections. These include giving “responsible authorities” some discretion to decide that segregation of child and adult detainees might not be beneficial if it separates children from their families. </p>
<p>However, this objection does not seem relevant to the recent legislative moves in Queensland because detaining youth offenders alongside adults is unlikely to benefit the children concerned. </p>
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<h2>Youth offenders and detention</h2>
<p>Recent news stories about the alleged <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-23/qld-youth-crime-rally-brisbane-protest-juvenile-justice/102765410">criminal offences</a> committed by juveniles in Queensland are immeasurably sad. Yet, in many respects, everyone is on the same page about these issues. No one has said a child who commits a serious crime should not face consequences. </p>
<p>But consequences for youth offenders must take into account their age, intellectual and physical development and disabilities, and potential for rehabilitation. </p>
<p>Even when a child who has committed a serious offence is sentenced to a significant term of imprisonment, the Victorian Supreme Court has <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/vic/VSC/2007/489.html">noted</a> his or her prospects for rehabilitation are “very much more advanced” by serving the term in youth detention rather than an adult prison. </p>
<p>In other words, youth offenders should not be held in detention facilities with adults. Police watch houses and adult detention centres are not safe places for any young person. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-cant-go-shopping-without-police-coming-north-queenslands-at-risk-youth-feel-excluded-and-heavily-surveilled-211885">'We can’t go shopping without police coming': north Queensland's at-risk youth feel excluded and heavily surveilled</a>
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<p>The Youth Advocacy Centre <a href="https://yac.net.au/2023/05/11/queensland-locking-up-more-children-than-any-other-state">reports</a> that more children are incarcerated in Queensland than in any other state. This is an appalling statistic, especially because many young offenders have themselves been <a href="https://yac.net.au/2023/01/30/stop-youth-crime-get-smarter-not-tougher/">victims of crime</a>, trauma or abuse, were raised in unsafe families or <a href="https://theconversation.com/does-our-child-protection-system-cause-young-people-to-commit-crimes-the-evidence-suggests-so-127024">out of home care</a>, or have severe disabilities. </p>
<p>The Queensland government claims the recent legislative moves to override the Human Rights Act will enhance community safety and clarify administrative arrangements for youth detention. However, there is overwhelming <a href="https://www.qcoss.org.au/communities-less-safe-detaining-kids">evidence</a> that youth detention does not necessarily make communities safer or deter or rehabilitate young offenders. In fact, it may increase the likelihood of <a href="https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/opinion-stop-this-mad-race-to-the-bottom-on-youth-justice/news-story/8777ccb214f43089b4741d94976b810c">reoffending</a>.</p>
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<h2>Concerning trend of legislative overrides</h2>
<p>Rather, these amendments in Queensland are largely serving a political purpose. This is because any move by a parliament to override an established law should only be done in exceptional circumstances, such as a war, state of emergency or crisis threatening public safety, health or order. </p>
<p>In Victoria, the override provision in the <a href="https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/acts/charter-human-rights-and-responsibilities-act-2006/015">Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities</a> has been used in the past in situations that did not appear to meet the exceptional circumstances threshold. In 2015, a review of the charter recommended the repeal of the override power, calling it unnecessary and unhelpful. </p>
<p>Surprisingly, no such overrides were declared either in Victoria or Queensland – the two states that have human rights laws with this provision – during the COVID-19 public health emergency. </p>
<p>As the Queensland parliament’s actions demonstrate, legal protections for human rights remain frail and subject to the whims of governments or the prevailing moods of their electorates. The Human Rights Act itself is an ordinary law, which means future governments could dilute, amend or even repeal it. (Hopefully, Queenslanders would not stand for this.) </p>
<p>The Act can also be weakened if the parliament overrides its protections too many times. Queensland has now done it twice in six months. This must be taken seriously. Let’s hope we don’t see a pattern of these types of actions – it would make a mockery of human rights protections in Queensland. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/raising-the-age-of-criminal-responsibility-is-only-a-first-step-first-nations-kids-need-cultural-solutions-186201">Raising the age of criminal responsibility is only a first step. First Nations kids need cultural solutions</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212377/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicky Jones does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In six months, the state’s parliament has voted to override its own Human Rights Act, not once but twice.Nicky Jones, Senior Lecturer, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2073872023-06-12T09:59:33Z2023-06-12T09:59:33ZIllegal migration bill: the concern for children’s rights keeping the House of Lords up all night<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/531160/original/file-20230609-29-1wtswc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=131%2C51%2C4732%2C3026&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/dungeness-kent-uk-may-5th-2022-2152529247">Sean Aidan Calderbank/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3429">illegal migration bill</a> passed through the House of Commons earlier this year, but is being fiercely contested in the House of Lords. The bill is currently at the <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2023/may-2023/lords-scrutinises-illegal-migration-bill/">committee stage</a> which allows the members to scrutinise the text and make amendments.</p>
<p>With only five days <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/house-of-lords-illegal-migration-bill-night-sitting-suella-braverman-b1086385.html">scheduled for this process</a>, the debate continued overnight on June 7 until 4am. Many were <a href="https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/house-of-lords-illegal-migration-bill-late-sitting">frustrated</a> with the unusually late sitting.</p>
<p>Peers <a href="https://hansard.parliament.uk/Lords/2023-06-07/debates/41061D9F-F385-4CF5-9B77-8EB8852381A3/IllegalMigrationBill">expressed concerns</a> about a number of provisions in the government’s plan to deter migrants from crossing the channel in small boats. But a key sticking point has been the issue of detention for immigration purposes, particularly of children. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/22/section/5/enacted">Immigration Act 2014</a> banned the detention of unaccompanied children (who have arrived in the UK without a responsible adult) for more than 24 hours at any one time. But there are still some circumstances where unaccompanied children are detained. For example, when awaiting an <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/asylum-age-assessments-children-home-office-high-court-uk-b1996272.html">age assessment</a> if the Home Office believes they are <a href="https://theconversation.com/children-are-sometimes-held-in-immigration-detention-in-the-uk-too-this-must-stop-98910">over 18</a>. </p>
<p>The new bill would allow the government to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/illegal-migration-bill-factsheets/illegal-migration-bill-detention-and-bail-factsheet#:%7E:text=The%20bill%20will%20create%20new,a%20reasonable%20period%20of%20time">indefinitely detain</a> all asylum seekers who enter the UK illegally, including children and potential victims of trafficking.</p>
<p>In a strong condemnation of this aspect of the bill, Conservative peer Baroness Mobarik described detention without charge or trial as <a href="https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/child-detention-illegal-migration-bill-misguided-stopped">“one of the most draconian powers the state has over the individual”</a>. She summed up the proposed reintroduction of child detention succinctly: “This cannot be right.”</p>
<p>If an unaccompanied child who arrives in the UK illegally is from a safe country of origin, they may be returned there even before they reach 18. Crossbench peer Baroness Butler-Sloss described a hypothetical situation where a 10-year-old could live and attend school in England for several years, only to be callously uprooted under the proposals. They could be removed at age 18 (or earlier) to a country where they may not know the language or have family or other connections. She described the bill as “quite simply … cruel.” </p>
<h2>Child victims of modern slavery</h2>
<p>Researchers and activists have been criticising the bill’s proposals that would deny certain protections and support to potential victims of <a href="https://modernslaverypec.org/assets/downloads/Modern-Slavery-PEC-Explainer-Illegal-Migration-Bill-v1.3.pdf">modern slavery</a>, including “unaccompanied asylum-seeking children” or “unaccommpanied children”. This label alone means refugee children are often excluded from the duties and protections that are afforded (at least in theory) to all children in England and Wales. </p>
<p>But the current protections are not as strong as activists may like, and children in particular face many barriers in the immigration system. Only <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/119973/pdf/">2% of child trafficking victims between 2019-2020</a> with irregular migration status in the UK were granted the leave to remain. This is despite being entitled to such protections under several aspects of international law.</p>
<p>As I <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/119973/pdf/">wrote in evidence</a> for Parliament’s <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/work/7389/legislative-scrutiny-illegal-migration-bill/">human rights joint committee</a>, the proposals will have a detrimental impact on children. They may even increase the risk of child exploitation or going missing, as has already happened with asylum-seeking unaccompanied children in hotel accommodation.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/migrant-children-in-the-uk-are-going-missing-from-care-heres-how-to-protect-them-199646">Migrant children in the UK are going missing from care – here’s how to protect them</a>
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<h2>International law</h2>
<p>Measures to clamp down on irregular migration are often enacted in the name of combating modern slavery and trafficking. But they have had calamitous consequences for people entitled to protection under international law on refugees. Often, children are caught up in these policies.</p>
<p>During the remaining two days of committee stage, peers (including some from the Conservative party) will continue arguing for a number of amendments to the bill. <a href="https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/international-treaties-house-of-lords-illegal-migration-bill">One would prevent</a> the government from breaching international law relating to refugees and human rights.</p>
<p>One such treaty is the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">Convention on the Rights of the Child</a> 1989, the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world. While not immune to <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/chil/28/1/article-p66_66.xml?language=en&ebody=full%20html-copy1">criticism</a>, it is pivotal in the protection of children’s rights globally. Under the convention, the UK government has clear obligations when it comes to the protection, care and treatment of unaccompanied or separated asylum-seeking children.</p>
<p>In this regard, the illegal migration bill has drawn a range of international criticism. The UN’s <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crc">Committee on the Rights of the Child</a> urged the government to “<a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/06/un-child-rights-committee-publishes-findings-finland-france-jordan-sao-tome">repeal all draft provisions</a> that would violate children’s rights. This includes ensuring that all asylum-seeking and refugee children can access necessary support, and to guarantee that unaccompanied children have a right to apply for family reunification. </p>
<p>Researchers and activists <a href="https://modernslaverypec.org/assets/downloads/Childrens-Outcomes-Research-Summary.pdf">called on the home office</a> in 2022 to ensure that immigration and asylum system does not re-traumatise children or increase the risk of exploitation. They emphasised the negative impact of lengthy immigration procedures on young people.</p>
<p>Unaccompanied children are subject to considerable psychological harm as a consequence of the threat of detention and removal. The discretionary power of the home secretary to return <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/law/research/european-childrens-rights-unit/campaigns/vulnerable-children-in-a-hostile-environment/">Albanian unaccompanied minors</a> to Albania – as could happen under the bill’s proposals – may <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/119969/pdf/">violate their human rights</a>. </p>
<p>As long as children in the UK’s immigration system face restrictions and the removal of their rights, this bill will be in clear violation of <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/06/07/illegal-migration-bill-joint-civil-society-briefing-house-lords-second-reading">international law</a>. The attempt to push through an inhumane and punitive piece of legislation should alarm us all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207387/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth A Faulkner receives funding from the British Academy, the Royal Irish Academy and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). </span></em></p>Provisions related to detention of children and protections for trafficking victims are the subject of ongoing debate.Elizabeth A Faulkner, Lecturer in Law, Keele UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2041822023-04-28T02:51:24Z2023-04-28T02:51:24ZWon’t somebody please think of the children? Their agency is ignored in the moral panic around drag storytime<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523112/original/file-20230427-28-yq7dun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C6%2C2041%2C1355&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Multnomah County Library/ Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/politics/protesters-clash-over-drag-story-time-event-at-melbourne-council-meeting/news-story/f8671b4047b59f9fc27d8ffee803c9f8">Protesters derailed</a> a Monash City Council meeting on Wednesday, demanding the cancellation of a sold-out drag storytime event at Oakleigh Library in Melbourne’s south-east. </p>
<p>This is just the latest in a string of drag performances for children throughout Victoria being cancelled or postponed in response to protest. </p>
<p>The central message of these campaigns (accompanied by varying levels of vitriol) is the same: “let our kids be kids”, “protect our children” and “hands off our kids”, while simultaneously labelling performers and supporters of the events “paedophiles”. </p>
<p>This is part of a global backlash. Similar protests and cancellations have happened in <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/unhinged-conspiracy-theorists-auckland-drag-queen-targeted-in-avondale-library-protest-speaks-out/TE6BFUOXVJC6VFYMU4VAUAERTQ/">New Zealand</a>, the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-64610724">United Kingdom</a> and the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/21/anti-drag-show-laws-bans-republican-states">United States</a>. </p>
<p>The argument in support of drag emphasises the impact on the performers at the centre of these events and queer community, arguing that the cancellation of these events is a form of <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/03/02/drag-queens-tennessee-law-minors/">discrimination and a contravention of human rights</a>.</p>
<p>But the debate so far overlooks the agency and rights of the events’ intended audiences: children and young people.</p>
<h2>Children as citizens</h2>
<p>Calls to “protect the children” from drag performers and trans people assume children are, in fact, in need of safeguarding. </p>
<p>Such messaging is rooted in a tendency for Western societies to reduce childhood to an <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/au/academic/subjects/sociology/sociology-general-interest/importance-being-innocent-why-we-worry-about-children?format=PB&isbn=9780521146975">idyllic innocence</a>, which positions children as “in need of protection” and amplifies their constant vulnerability. </p>
<p>Children’s vulnerability played a critical role in motivating the adoption of the United Nations’ <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">Convention on the Rights of the Child</a> in 1989. </p>
<p>Since the adoption of the charter, new laws and policies have been established in Australia to criminalise forced marriage, to remove children from detention and to change the Family Law Act to better protect the rights of children. </p>
<p>The charter details children’s need for safeguarding and special care. But it also confirms the evolving capacity of children to assert their rights as cultural citizens and their need for freedom of thought and expression.</p>
<h2>The power of drag and imaginative play</h2>
<p>Drag as a form of creative, physical and spiritual expression has existed within theatre and cultural performance <a href="https://www.grunge.com/1243587/drag-shows-older-realize-real-history/">for millennia</a>.</p>
<p>Drag and queer performance studies have given rise to understandings of gender as an everyday performance: from the clothes we pick out, to the products we gravitate towards in supermarkets, to our repeated physical and vocal gestures. </p>
<p>Drag pokes fun at the gender binary and, in doing so, it aims to blur the boundaries and expose the artificiality of gender roles.</p>
<p>While the success of television shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race have established drag as something more accessible and relatable for a range of audiences, the visibility of queerness that comes with drag – especially when moving outside designated queer spaces – is an apparent step too far. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-difference-between-being-transgender-and-doing-drag-100521">Explainer: the difference between being transgender and doing drag</a>
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<p>But the way drag asks us to question the socially constructed nature of gender offers children a vision of self-determination. You can do what you want to do, you can be who you want to be.</p>
<p>The potentiality within the <em>play</em> of drag engages the power of children’s imaginations today to conceive better tomorrows. </p>
<p>Philosopher David Harvey refers to moments of “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/40603">free play</a>” as fertile ways of exploring and expressing a vast range of ideas, of taking on power structures and social practices, and imagining new possibilities for how we structure and support community. </p>
<h2>The insights of the child</h2>
<p>In post-plebiscite Australia, the success of targeted campaigns against drag-themed events for children exposes certain conditions around what are “acceptable” encounters of queer expression for children. </p>
<p>The all-too-familiar campaign messages that swirled around the marriage debate – “protect the sanctity of marriage”, “protect families” – are rearing up again with only a minor rhetorical shift. </p>
<p>The more obvious difference now is that the messages have been co-opted by extreme groups who are targeting individuals and threatening violence. </p>
<p>The drag storytime event at the centre of the protests at Monash City Council remains scheduled to take place at Oakleigh Library on May 19. At the time of writing, an online petition to cancel the event has 820 supporters, while another in support of the event has over 3,300 signatures. </p>
<p>Perhaps, then, the social temperature is not as heated towards drag performers as recent cancellations suggest. Instead, a minority of vocal and visible dissenters are dictating the rights and freedoms of the majority.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523115/original/file-20230427-18-f2u362.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523115/original/file-20230427-18-f2u362.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523115/original/file-20230427-18-f2u362.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523115/original/file-20230427-18-f2u362.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523115/original/file-20230427-18-f2u362.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523115/original/file-20230427-18-f2u362.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523115/original/file-20230427-18-f2u362.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523115/original/file-20230427-18-f2u362.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A drag queen reads children’s stories at the drag story hour in Saint John, Canada.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>The image of a drag performer in relation to a child elicits violent responses for some because it is an image of progress and change and of queer acceptance and love set against a long history of homophobia and transphobia in this country. </p>
<p>But there are two figures in this image and one has been kept silent. </p>
<p>In debating rights and agency, perhaps it’s time to ask and be guided by the insights of the child.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204182/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As drag storytime events are cancelled around Australia, children and young people, who are centred in the debate, have been rendered silent and invisible.Sarah Austin, Lecturer in Theatre, The University of MelbourneJonathan Graffam, Tutor in Theatre, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1994542023-04-20T16:32:16Z2023-04-20T16:32:16ZChildism: how discrimination against children plays out in law<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514205/original/file-20230308-28-jf04ka.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C16%2C5397%2C3611&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/father-mother-telling-off-their-daughter-718592134">BearFotos/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some acts are only considered criminal if they are committed by someone aged under 18. This doesn’t just include things such as drinking alcohol. In some US states, for example, it is illegal for children to <a href="https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/crime-penalties/juvenile/running-away.htm">run away from home</a> or even to repeatedly disobey parental authority.</p>
<p>This behaviour is <a href="https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/crime-penalties/juvenile/incorrigibility.htm">called incorrigibility</a>. If a child is decided to be incorrigible by a court, the sanctions they can receive include detention in a juvenile facility. </p>
<p>In many countries where there is legal recourse for adults against violence by other adults, we find a troublesome lack of such protection for children. In over 130 countries in the world, children lack full protection against <a href="https://endcorporalpunishment.org/countdown/">corporal punishment</a>. In England, children can lawfully be smacked by parents if the smack can be considered “<a href="https://childlawadvice.org.uk/information-pages/the-law-on-smacking-children/">reasonable punishment</a>”. </p>
<p>This kind of unequal treatment is an <a href="https://brill.com/edcollbook-oa/title/61923">example of childism</a>: prejudice and discrimination against children.</p>
<h2>Defining the problem</h2>
<p>The concept of childism was used by psychiatrists <a href="https://journals.healio.com/doi/abs/10.3928/0048-5713-19750701-04">Chester Pierce and Gail Allen</a> as long ago as 1975, describing the universal oppression created by anti-child attitudes and practices. They argued that childism is “the automatic assumption of superiority of any adult over any child”. </p>
<p>In 2012, the term was further popularised by psychoanalyst <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/06/us/elisabeth-young-bruehl-65-dies-probed-roots-of-ideology-and-bias.html">Elisabeth Young-Bruehl’s</a> book <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300192407/childism/">Childism: confronting prejudice against children</a>. Young-Bruel argued that childism should be considered as a prejudice alongside other prejudices such as racism, sexism and homophobia.</p>
<p>Ideas about women’s inferiority to men or assumptions about race feed into ideas about children’s inferiority to adults. These are prejudices about who has and who lacks rationality, logic and authority. This prejudice stands in the way of children being heard and taken seriously.</p>
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<img alt="Black and white photograph of group of children holding hands walking away from camera" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514208/original/file-20230308-26-8lj9va.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514208/original/file-20230308-26-8lj9va.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514208/original/file-20230308-26-8lj9va.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514208/original/file-20230308-26-8lj9va.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514208/original/file-20230308-26-8lj9va.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514208/original/file-20230308-26-8lj9va.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514208/original/file-20230308-26-8lj9va.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A child may face unfair treatment based not only on their age but also other characteristics such as race and gender.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/black-white-image-children-walking-park-737997076">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>A child can be discriminated against on multiple grounds. The age, race, gender, class, disability, language and sexual orientation of a child can hinder their rights in school or access to societal institutions. </p>
<p>Expectations that the law should uphold some form of justice, that people should be treated equal in the application of laws, and that children as a vulnerable group should be adequately protected by the law, can clash with the existence of childism. </p>
<h2>Childism in law</h2>
<p>Children’s rights are formulated in international law. The most commonly known is the United Nations convention on the rights of the child (<a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">CRC</a>) established in 1989. But while the convention states that the rights it lays out should apply to any child without discrimination on the basis of factors such as race and sex, it does not define or address discrimination against children.</p>
<p>This stands in stark contrast to other core conventions on human rights. <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-convention-elimination-all-forms-racial">The convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination</a>, as the title indicates, address racial discrimination, and <a href="https://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/">the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women</a> sexist discrimination. But age-based discrimination against children has been overlooked. </p>
<p>The convention on the rights of the child says that the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crc">best interests of the child</a> should be a primary consideration in legal and administrative proceedings. But what is in the best interests of the child tends to be defined through concerned adults and their interests. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/calling-children-vectors-during-covid-19-is-turning-into-discrimination-171041">Calling children 'vectors' during COVID-19 is turning into discrimination</a>
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<p>In custody cases, for instance, the rights of the <a href="https://childlawadvice.org.uk/information-pages/residence/#:%7E:text=The%20wishes%20and%20feelings%20of,detailing%20the%20child's%20living%20arrangements.">concerned adults</a> <a href="https://brill.com/edcollbook-oa/title/61923">are often prioritised</a>. Research in Sweden found that children’s right to welfare support tends to be <a href="https://brill.com/edcollbook-oa/title/61923">determined mainly</a> through the claims of adults in the family. </p>
<p>The convention on the rights of the child also includes the instruction that the “<a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crc">evolving capacities of the child</a>” should be taken into consideration when judging matters relating to children. This may <a href="https://brill.com/edcollbook-oa/title/61923">silence children’s voices</a> on their own rights, as a child may be deemed too immature or not ready to have a say in their life.</p>
<p>However, not discriminating against children does not mean treating them the same as adults. Such formal equality can be unfair to children, as their specific circumstances will be different to those of an adult. What it does mean is – for instance – ensuring that a child has a right to be heard on issues that affect them, and that their views are not dismissed simply because they are the views of a child. </p>
<p>Discrimination against children needs to be addressed from an intersectional perspective. This means taking into account how a child might simultaneously experience overlapping discrimination based on their age and other factors such as race and gender. Governments should recognise that the rights of the child rest at the centre of human needs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199454/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Adami does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children face the effects of prejudice over who has and who lacks rationality, logic, and authority.Rebecca Adami, Associate Professor in Education, Stockholm UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2035912023-04-18T20:26:22Z2023-04-18T20:26:22ZTime to abolish the Canadian law that allows adults to spank and hit children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521692/original/file-20230418-926-xy0s7z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=83%2C114%2C2860%2C1818&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Strategies that may help reduce support for corporal punishment — as well as reduce its use and intentions to use it — include individual and group-based programs to develop positive parenting skills.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/time-to-abolish-the-canadian-law-that-allows-adults-to-spank-and-hit-children" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Corporal punishment (e.g., spanking) is allowed in Canada according to <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/section-43.html">Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada</a>. Some Canadians are not aware of this and are surprised to learn that such a law exists, whereas others want to hold onto this archaic act. </p>
<p><a href="https://researchco.ca/2023/02/17/section43-canada/">A growing number of Canadians, however, are aware of the law and understand the need to have Section 43 abolished</a>. The real question is why hasn’t our country already removed permission to hit children from the Criminal Code of Canada? </p>
<p>Globally, efforts to end violence against children, including corporal punishment, have been underway for half a century. To date, <a href="https://endcorporalpunishment.org/countdown/">65 countries and states worldwide have banned corporal punishment</a>. Unfortunately, Canada is not one of them. </p>
<p>Currently, <a href="https://www.parl.ca/legisinfo/en/bill/44-1/s-251">Bill S-251</a>, which would ban corporal punishment in Canada, is being debated in the Senate. Now is the time to provide evidence to Canadians to inform the debate. </p>
<h2>Why corporal punishment should never be used</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521766/original/file-20230419-14-4cypca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An infographic titled 'All children have the right to live free from violence' showing the harms caused by physical punishment and pathways for change" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521766/original/file-20230419-14-4cypca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521766/original/file-20230419-14-4cypca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=988&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521766/original/file-20230419-14-4cypca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=988&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521766/original/file-20230419-14-4cypca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=988&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521766/original/file-20230419-14-4cypca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1242&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521766/original/file-20230419-14-4cypca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1242&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521766/original/file-20230419-14-4cypca.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1242&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Physical punishment has no known benefits to children, but extensive research shows the harm it causes well into adulthood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Childhood Adversity and Resilience research team)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child defines corporal punishment (also referred to as physical punishment) <a href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/460bc7772.html">as punishment that uses physical force that is intended to cause pain or discomfort even if it is very mild or light</a>. Corporal punishment can include hitting, spanking, smacking, slapping, kicking, shaking, scratching, pinching or biting, among other physical acts. </p>
<p>Canadian estimates within the last 10 years suggest that between <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7729-6">18 per cent</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.7870/cjcmh-2014-013">43 per cent</a> of families use spanking to discipline children. </p>
<p>Evidence collected over the past two decades and published in hundreds of peer-reviewed studies, has demonstrated that corporal punishment is harmful to children and has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1503%2Fcmaj.101314">no known benefits</a>. </p>
<p>This <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037%2Ffam0000191">research has consistently</a> shown <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.01.014">corporal punishment to be a significant risk factor</a> for injury, poor parent-child relationships and poor outcomes in children and youth. These include aggression, antisocial behaviour, slower cognitive development, emotional disorders including anxiety and depression, physical health problems, substance use, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts and violence in intimate relationships later in life. </p>
<p>Because of serious concerns about the significant negative outcomes associated with corporal punishment, the American Academy of Pediatrics <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2018-3112">published a statement in 2018</a> clearly recommending against any physical punishment, including spanking, hitting and slapping. A similar statement was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/pxz063">published in 2019 by the Canadian Paediatric Society</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“At no time should parents use physical punishment — spanking, slapping, hitting — or behaviour that shames children.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Barriers to repealing Section 43</h2>
<p>Extensive evidence highlights the harms of spanking, and no studies have found any benefits of spanking for the child. Sixty-five other countries or states worldwide have already instituted spanking bans. The question remains: Why hasn’t Canada already repealed Section 43 of the Criminal Code? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man and a woman sitting on a sofa looking at a laptop screen together" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521715/original/file-20230418-26-hehrly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521715/original/file-20230418-26-hehrly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521715/original/file-20230418-26-hehrly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521715/original/file-20230418-26-hehrly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521715/original/file-20230418-26-hehrly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521715/original/file-20230418-26-hehrly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521715/original/file-20230418-26-hehrly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some studies have shown that providing research summaries about harms related to corporal punishment and information about children’s rights can help parents to decide to stop spanking.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A common argument for spanking is, “I was spanked, and I turned out OK.” While that may be true for some people, it often isn’t the case. </p>
<p>Many children, youth and adults experience numerous poor outcomes across their lifespan related to being spanked in childhood. Physical punishment in childhood is associated with a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-017-4359-8">higher likelihood</a> of experiencing physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect and/or exposure to intimate partner violence.</p>
<p>It’s clear that spanking is a parenting strategy that comes with significant and unnecessary risks. </p>
<p>A common misconception related to the repeal of Section 43 is that laws banning corporal punishment will mean criminalization and incarceration of parents. This is simply not true and not the purpose of a ban. </p>
<p>In 1979, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/026975800501200203">Sweden became the first country to ban corporal punishment in all settings</a>; the aim was to educate the public — not prosecute parents. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0145-2134(99)00021-6">Prosecution rates of parents remained unchanged after the ban was in place</a>. </p>
<p>The overall purpose of such bans is to reduce the use of corporal punishment, increase early identification of at-risk children and youth and to support families through preventive interventions.</p>
<h2>Evidence of changing public attitudes</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Form asking whether corporal punishment should be prohibited, with the box for 'Yes' ticked" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521716/original/file-20230418-28-n0h8ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521716/original/file-20230418-28-n0h8ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521716/original/file-20230418-28-n0h8ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521716/original/file-20230418-28-n0h8ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521716/original/file-20230418-28-n0h8ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521716/original/file-20230418-28-n0h8ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521716/original/file-20230418-28-n0h8ij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research from several countries indicates that the most effective method of reducing public support for the use of corporal punishment may be legislation prohibiting it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Several strategies have shown promise in reducing support for corporal punishment, as well as in reducing the intention to use, and the actual act of using it. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.01.017">These include</a> individual and group-based programs to develop positive parenting skills, home visitation programs and media-based interventions. </p>
<p>Some studies have also demonstrated that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.10.013">providing research summaries</a> about harms related to corporal punishment and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519852631">information about children’s rights</a> can help parents to decide to stop spanking.</p>
<p>Importantly, research from several countries indicates that <a href="https://endcorporalpunishment.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/The-positive-impact-of-prohibition-of-corporal-punishment-on-children.pdf">legislation prohibiting corporal punishment may be the most effective method of reducing public support for the use of corporal punishment</a>. Bans alone may not be sufficient; they should be enacted in combination with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.10.016">public awareness and education campaigns</a>.</p>
<p>It is essential that Canada complies with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child that prohibits spanking. It is our duty to protect our children from unnecessary harm and give them the best chance to live happy and healthy lives that are free from violence. This starts with the Repeal of Section 43.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203591/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tracie O. Afifi receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canada Research Chairs, and the Public Health Agency of Canada for work related to her program of research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Gonzalez receives funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Canada Research Chairs fund. </span></em></p>Extensive evidence shows the harms of spanking, and 65 other countries or states worldwide have already banned it. Why has Canada not done the same by repealing Section 43 of the Criminal Code?Tracie O. Afifi, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Childhood Adversity and Resilience, University of ManitobaAndrea Gonzalez, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1996772023-02-15T19:06:13Z2023-02-15T19:06:13ZChildren can now report rights violations directly to the UN – it’s progress, but Aotearoa New Zealand still needs to do more<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/510223/original/file-20230214-16-a4bbf6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=21%2C28%2C4695%2C3076&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The latest <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2FC%2FNZL%2FCO%2F6&Lang=en">report into the rights of children</a> in Aotearoa New Zealand has painted a mixed picture of how the country treats young people.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crc">UN Committee on the Rights of the Child</a> recently published its sixth review into how Aotearoa New Zealand is implementing its obligations under the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989</a>.</p>
<p>The good news is that Aotearoa New Zealand has made progress in the seven years since the last review. But despite decades of warnings, the country is still failing too many of its children and young people, particularly those in state care, living in poverty, with disabilities, and those who end up in the justice system</p>
<p>On the positive side, measures such as establishment of the Ministry for Children (<a href="https://www.orangatamariki.govt.nz/">Oranga Tamariki</a>) in 2017, the passing of the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2017/0031/latest/whole.html">Children, Young Persons, and Their Families (Oranga Tamariki) Act 2017</a>, the <a href="https://www.childyouthwellbeing.govt.nz/our-aspirations/context/child-poverty-reduction-and-wellbeing-legislation">Child Poverty Reduction Act 2018</a> and the development of the <a href="https://dpmc.govt.nz/our-programmes/child-and-youth-wellbeing-strategy">Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy 2019</a> were welcomed by the writers of the report. </p>
<p>Aotearoa New Zealand has also voluntarily implemented the convention’s <a href="https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/monitoring/uncroc/optional-protocols.html#OptionalProtocolonaCommunicationsProcedure1">communications procedure</a>, allowing children to take complaints about rights violations directly to the committee.</p>
<h2>A long list of failures</h2>
<p>But while Aotearoa New Zealand’s progress was commended, the bulk of the report was devoted to the country’s ongoing failure to fully implement the internationally established rights of young people.</p>
<p>Among the key concerns requiring urgent attention were:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the persistent discrimination against children in vulnerable situations </p></li>
<li><p>the persistent rates of abuse, neglect and violence against children</p></li>
<li><p>the rights of children in state care and the disproportionate levels of harm experienced by these children</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealand-is-violating-the-rights-of-its-children-is-it-time-to-change-the-legal-definition-of-age-discrimination-145685">New Zealand is violating the rights of its children. Is it time to change the legal definition of age discrimination?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<ul>
<li><p>the higher levels of risk or violence and abuse that children with disabilities are exposed to, as well as the higher levels of deprivation, poverty and inadequate housing, and the lower levels of enrolment in education or training programmes they experience</p></li>
<li><p>the rates of children living in poverty and experiencing food insecurity, homelessness and unstable or overcrowded housing resulting in poorer health and education outcomes</p></li>
<li><p>the minimum age of criminal responsibility – just 10 years old in New Zealand – as well as the failure to separate children and adults in detention, the indefinite period for which some young people can be remanded in police custody, and the automatic transfer of young people charged with serious offences to the adult justice system.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The committee expressed concern at the persistent over-representation of tamariki and rangatahi Māori in most of these areas of key concern. The committee also noted that Pasifika children, LGBTI children and children with disabilities were more likely to be in vulnerable situations.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1597063102440570880"}"></div></p>
<h2>The issues are not new</h2>
<p>Many of these concerns had already been identified in Aotearoa New Zealand’s last report, in <a href="https://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2FPPRiCAqhKb7yhsrXsJ3pRx9xOCak0Ed1mLEkIUHtKTSHNWA9ddXmo8oiUgGuB9JUoxS6ES4ymmXawE3W7Z52o%2B4tn33VBe09mSo1Rr6ta1lLVkTxmo%2FSYUATQ">2016</a>. Indeed, many of these issues were a matter of concern when Aotearoa New Zealand first reported to the committee in <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2FC%2F15%2FAdd.71&Lang=en">1997</a>. </p>
<p>Not only have the committee’s concerns been highlighted in the past, but the report’s findings come from Aotearoa New Zealand’s own data on children. </p>
<p>The committee considered a <a href="https://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2FPPRiCAqhKb7yhsrXsJ3pRx9xOCak0Ed1mLElOb1P37sl9i8IkOkisrTYvNyBgHBWM5LhFdPBuMc1QjthQOJhr0BQ9MKxlm2%2BpFeExvp5CWO1se1B4UAJtStmI">2021 report</a> submitted by the Aotearoa New Zealand government, along with <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/countries.aspx?CountryCode=NZL&Lang=EN">other reports</a> from national institutions such as the Children’s Commissioner and non-governmental organisations. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-state-removal-of-maori-children-from-their-families-is-a-wound-that-wont-heal-but-there-is-a-way-forward-140243">The state removal of Māori children from their families is a wound that won't heal – but there is a way forward</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The committee then discussed the state of children’s rights in Aotearoa New Zealand with a government delegation at the UN headquarters in Geneva. The most recent <a href="https://www.ungeneva.org/en/news-media/meeting-summary/2023/01/examen-de-la-nouvelle-zelande-devant-le-comite-des-droits-de">meeting</a> between New Zealand and the committee took place in late January.</p>
<h2>Why the review process matters</h2>
<p>The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is an international, legally binding agreement. It has been formally accepted by <a href="https://indicators.ohchr.org/">196 countries</a>, making it the most widely accepted human rights treaty.</p>
<p>The convention established the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, a body of 18 independent experts that monitors its implementation in the states that have accepted it. </p>
<p>Regular reporting to the committee is a requirement of the convention. These reviews allow for the nature of children’s rights and states’ obligations to be spelled out. </p>
<p>Over the decades, the reviews have built up a picture of how Aotearoa New Zealand’s children’s rights are violated by discrimination, deprivation and (sometimes deadly) violence. The reviews continually identify what the government must do to prevent these breaches and how to remedy their consequences. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1011339881845612545"}"></div></p>
<h2>What must the government do now?</h2>
<p>A few overarching themes can be identified amongst the dozens of recommendations made by the committee. </p>
<p>Firstly, the convention’s rights and obligations must be incorporated into Aotearoa New Zealand law. Children should also be able to participate meaningfully in the design and implementation of all laws, policies and programmes regarding their rights.</p>
<p>Children whose rights have been violated need greater access to more child-friendly complaints mechanisms. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/10-is-too-young-to-be-in-court-nz-should-raise-the-minimum-age-of-criminal-responsibility-188969">10 is too young to be in court – NZ should raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Additionally, more data needs to be collected to create a fuller picture of the situation of all Aotearoa New Zealand children and their rights. More resources also need to be allocated to the protection of children and the national budget needs to more strongly reflect a child rights-based approach.</p>
<p>But perhaps the best place to start is for the government to fulfil one of its obligations and publicise the findings of this latest review, as well as publicising the fact that children can now complain to the UN when their rights have been violated.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199677/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Breen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New Zealand is making some progress in its treatment of children and young people. But there is still a way to go to meet its obligations under international law.Claire Breen, Professor of Law, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1987732023-01-30T23:20:41Z2023-01-30T23:20:41ZLabor’s proposed family law overhaul makes some important changes, but omits others<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507201/original/file-20230130-12430-9z07f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">April Fonti/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is much to be excited about in Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus’s <a href="https://ministers.ag.gov.au/media-centre/consultation-draft-family-law-amendment-bill-2023-30-01-2023">draft Family Law Amendment Bill 2023</a>, the first in a projected series of reforms that promise to put children’s needs and interests back at the centre of family law. </p>
<p>But the proposed reforms stop short of the radical change that is required. </p>
<p>To change the culture of the court, children need legal <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/childrens-rights/convention-rights-child">rights</a> – not just a rubbery set of “best interests”. And the court must be responsible for ensuring children’s rights are protected.</p>
<p>A central problem is that the adversarial culture of the court marginalises children, and can profoundly silence them, including when children express concerns about their safety.</p>
<p>On the upside, the proposed legislation will require the Federal Circuit and Family Court, and Family Court of Western Australia, to more adequately prioritise children’s safety concerns than it has done in the past.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/book-extract-broken-requiem-for-the-family-court-166406">Book extract: 'Broken' — requiem for the family court</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Ending the presumption of ‘shared parental responsibility’</h2>
<p>It abandons the presumption of “shared parental responsibility”, which has been widely misunderstood to mean shared care. This may be an achievable goal for families that do not need to go to court to make safe arrangements for their children’s care, but is unsuitable if not dangerous for families with the complex needs and risk factors that come before the court. This includes domestic abuse and family violence, child sexual abuse, drug and alcohol addiction, and serious mental health concerns. </p>
<p>Instead, the bill proposes that the child should be at the centre of every legal determination. </p>
<p>Significantly, the child’s views will be given greater prominence in the legislation, rather than being treated as optional extras. </p>
<p>Independent children’s lawyers – whose role is to ensure evidence relevant to the child’s “best interests” is put before the court – will also find it more difficult to <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-06/IndependentChildrensLawyerStudyFinalReport.pdf">circumvent the requirement</a> to actually speak to the children whose “best interests” they are meant to represent.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507222/original/file-20230130-14-n49xd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507222/original/file-20230130-14-n49xd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507222/original/file-20230130-14-n49xd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507222/original/file-20230130-14-n49xd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507222/original/file-20230130-14-n49xd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507222/original/file-20230130-14-n49xd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507222/original/file-20230130-14-n49xd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The new legislation will remove the onus on ‘shared parental responsibility’, which has often been misconstrued as ‘equal’ parenting time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cassiano Psomas/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Giving children a voice</h2>
<p>The fact that children’s safety and views have not been the guiding principles in family law for almost two decades ought to be a <a href="https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/broken">matter of public shame</a>. </p>
<p>In 2023, Australian <a href="https://www.whitlam.org/publications/they-thought-it-was-safe">children have fewer rights</a> under the Family Law Act than they did in 1975, when it was first enacted by the Whitlam government.</p>
<p>This devaluing of children’s rights has contributed to the courts’ failure to adequately recognise the autonomy of older children. This includes the right of young people to make age-appropriate decisions about their lives, such as what subjects they will study, where they will live, and who they will see. </p>
<p>In some instances, young people have been subjected to <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/UNSWLawJl/2019/47.html">unnecessarily traumatic and expensive litigation</a>. One such example is a trial – the second of two final hearings – that sought to determine whether a young man a few months shy of 18 was permitted to <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FamCA/2015/727.html">accept a hockey scholarship</a>.</p>
<p>The dangers that attend highly adversarial family court proceedings have been raised in evidence in successive inquests into child deaths, such as the <a href="https://coroners.nsw.gov.au/documents/findings/2021/Inquest_into_the_deaths_of_John_Jack_and_Jennifer_Edwards_-_findings_of_State_Coroner_dated_7_April_2021.pdf">murders of Jack and Jennifer Edwards</a> by their father, the <a href="https://www.coronerscourt.wa.gov.au/I/inquest_into_the_deaths_of_jessica_rose_cuzens_and_jane_lesley_margaret_cuzens_and_heather_glendinning.aspx">murders of Jane and Jessica Cuzens</a> by their mother, and the murders of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-15/doctors-knew-freeman-was-violent-before-bridge-murder/6620082">Darcey Freeman</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-27/coroner-recommends-children-not-returned-by-parents-as-missing/10945082">Eeva Dorendahl</a>, <a href="https://uwap.uwa.edu.au/products/come-with-daddy-child-murder-suicide-after-family-breakdown">Jessica and Patrick Dalton</a>, and <a href="https://www.coronerscourt.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-12/lukegeoffreybatty_085514.pdf">Luke Batty</a>, by their fathers.</p>
<p>Under court orders, children are routinely forced against their will into supervised (and unsupervised) contact arrangements with alleged perpetrators of domestic violence and child sexual abuse – including cases in which abuse has been deemed <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajs4.171">likely, probable, or even proven</a>.</p>
<p>The court should not be exempt from obligations under the <a href="https://childsafe.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-02/National_Principles_for_Child_Safe_Organisations2019.pdf">National Principles for Child Safe Organisations</a>, an outcome of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It should also be required to conform to Australia’s human rights obligations, as a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/are-you-and-your-partner-thinking-of-separating-heres-how-to-protect-the-kids-mental-health-194912">Are you and your partner thinking of separating? Here's how to protect the kids' mental health</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<h2>The proposed changes</h2>
<p>The draft Family Law Amendment Bill gives effect to key recommendations in the Australian Law Reform Commission’s 2019 review of the family law system. These changes were shamefully stalled by the former Morrison government. </p>
<p>The proposed legislation will require family report writers and Chapter 15 experts – who tender evidence and provide services to the court – to at long last be regulated for standards and quality. </p>
<p>The court’s failure to adequately regulate these standards has led to glaring injustices, such as the infamous case in which <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-26/family-court-report-writer-charged-with-child-sex-abuse/11434172">an accused paedophile was used as a court expert</a> to provide advice on allegations of child sexual abuse. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507224/original/file-20230130-12372-t5ry5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507224/original/file-20230130-12372-t5ry5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507224/original/file-20230130-12372-t5ry5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507224/original/file-20230130-12372-t5ry5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507224/original/file-20230130-12372-t5ry5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507224/original/file-20230130-12372-t5ry5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507224/original/file-20230130-12372-t5ry5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus’ draft bill goes some way to giving children more say in decisions that directly affect their lives, but it needs to go further.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The bill makes some attempt to address litigation abuse, <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Women_Intimate_Partner_Violence_and_the/APUTEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=inauthor:%22Heather+Douglas%22&printsec=frontcover">a widely documented phenomenon</a> in which a perpetrator seeks to weaponise the legal system – sometimes launching multiple actions across a variety of legal jurisdictions – in order to intimidate, harm, <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/agispt.20201102038991">inflict financial damage</a>, threaten and harass a victim. The court will be given more power to throw out such cases than it has at present. </p>
<p>There are also changes designed to <a href="https://www.wlsnsw.org.au/law-reform/sense-and-sensitivity-2016/">better protect sensitive information</a>, to safeguard against situations in which perpetrators use subpoenas to gain access to a victim’s medical or therapeutic records in order to inflict harm. </p>
<p>Many parts of the bill seek to clarify existing arrangements, such as setting out the circumstances in which a parenting order can be changed. </p>
<p>This may have some impact on litigation abuse, but it is unlikely to assist victims who have agreed to unsafe children’s arrangements out of fear, or a lack of financial resources. It also does not help, for example, a <a href="https://www.anrows.org.au/publication/no-straight-lines-self-represented-litigants-in-family-law-proceedings-involving-allegations-about-family-violence/">self-represented litigant</a> whose English-language skills are not at the level that a fast-paced adversarial legal action requires.</p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://www.anrows.org.au/publication/compliance-with-and-enforcement-of-family-law-parenting-orders-final-report/">report commissioned from Australian Institute of Family Studies</a> demonstrates that contraventions of court orders often occur because children and young people are not given age-appropriate opportunities to participate in decision-making that directly affects their lives. The report also found a significant number of children subject to court orders are living in unsafe arrangements.</p>
<h2>Reining in those who profit</h2>
<p>Another glaring omission is the need to more strongly regulate the activities of the private legal profession, including <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/dec/20/obscenely-high-how-family-court-costs-are-destroying-parents-and-their-children">obscene profiteering</a>. </p>
<p>The bill addresses some unintended consequences of <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fla1975114/s121.html">privacy provisions</a> contained in the act. But it does not allow adults whose parents went to court when they were children to <a href="https://theconversation.com/quite-irreparable-damage-child-family-violence-survivors-on-how-court-silenced-and-retraumatised-them-185198">openly talk</a> about the ways in which the court’s decisions impacted their lives. </p>
<p>Privacy provision should not be used to conceal injustice or silence victims.</p>
<p>Children do not suddenly transform from dependence to autonomy on reaching the age 18. It is <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Decisional-Privacy-and-the-Rights-of-the-Child/Dimopoulos/p/book/9781032123462">by making age-appropriate decisions</a> about their lives that young people work out how to live and – ultimately – what sort of citizen they would like to be.</p>
<p>In 1975, the Whitlam government accepted that a young person at 14 had a right to actively make decisions about their lives, unless there were compelling reasons for a court to intervene. </p>
<p>It’s time to go back to the future – and put children’s safety and rights at the centre of family law.</p>
<p><em>Camilla Nelson is co-author of <a href="https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/broken">Broken: Children, Parents and Family Courts</a>, Black Inc/La Trobe University Press</em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198773/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Camilla Nelson has received funding from the Whitlam Institute within Western Sydney University. </span></em></p>New legislation will overhaul family law, including the onus on ‘shared parental responsibility’ but more needs to be done to give children a voice.Camilla Nelson, EG Whitlam Research Fellow at the Whitlam Institute, and Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1964632023-01-18T13:37:11Z2023-01-18T13:37:11ZWhy aren’t there any legal protections for the children of influencers?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/503463/original/file-20230106-12037-jq01er.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C562%2C6862%2C4754&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children cannot consent to being the star of their parent's show.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/joyful-young-asian-mother-taking-selfie-with-cute-royalty-free-image/1151941387?phrase=mom taking selfie with kid&adppopup=true">d3sign/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When it comes to sharing content of children on social media – particularly via sponsored posts and brand deals – what’s legal isn’t always what’s ethical.</p>
<p>Influencer Brittany Dawn, who initially gained a following for her fitness workouts <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kelseyweekman/brittany-dawn-davis-influencer-lawsuit-fitness">before pivoting to religious content</a>, recently came under fire for <a href="https://www.insider.com/christian-influencer-brittany-dawn-criticism-foster-parent-journey-2022-12">monetizing her foster child on social media</a>. </p>
<p>While Dawn has blurred out her child’s image in photos shared – a stipulation decreed by the <a href="https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/smtips_parent.pdf">U.S. Children’s Bureau</a> for foster parents in their social media rules – she has found a different way to capitalize on being an influencer with a foster child. She includes affiliate links on her posts to promote products like baby monitors. If viewers follow the link and purchase the product, Dawn gets a commission.</p>
<p>Similarly, YouTube family vlogger <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2020/08/youtube-myka-james-stauffer-huxley-adoption.html">Myka Stauffer</a> has shared a number of details about her children, and has also relayed her experience of adopting a baby boy from China – who frequently appeared in her videos. (The Conversation reached out to Dawn and Stauffer about these criticisms, but did not receive a response.)</p>
<p>None of this is currently illegal. But this practice exists at the intersection of two social media trends: sponsored content and “<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/instagram-facebook-and-the-perils-of-sharenting">sharenting</a>” – when parents post sensitive information about their children online.</p>
<p>There are very few safeguards in place to protect the interests of children – both personal and financial – from their influencer parents. But the questionable practice of leveraging children for followers, fans and sponsorships is currently experiencing a groundswell of attention. <a href="https://www.insider.com/maia-knight-parent-oversharing-child-abuse-tiktok-youtube-family-vlogging-2023-1">Critiques</a> of famous creators like Dawn and Stauffer are becoming <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mom.uncharted/video/7187113683401657606?_t=8Ywq2HEEMri&_r=1">more pointed</a> and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@casjerome/video/7183384087263005995?_t=8Ywq7giv2NS&_r=1">persistent</a>, while some of the now-adult children of influencers are pushing back.</p>
<h2>When kids become a prop</h2>
<p><a href="https://cis.ua.edu/cis-theme-staff/dr-jessica-maddox/">As a scholar of social media</a>, I’ve spent nearly a decade studying <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2022.2109980">influencers</a> and <a href="https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/10804">content creators</a> and how they blur the lines between entertainment, business and freelance work. Influencers constantly search for a niche, or something to make them stand out amid the immense amount of content online. My own research has examined <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/the-internet-is-for-cats/9781978827912/">pet influencers</a>, <a href="https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/10804">ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) influencers</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2022.2109980">veterinarians who are influencers</a>.</p>
<p>Showcasing your children is also a niche. And as internet scholar Sophie Bishop has shown, influencers who feature their children sometimes <a href="https://www.papermag.com/top-beauty-influencers-2639784604.html?rebelltitem=9#rebelltitem9">use their kids to pivot the focus of their social media niche</a>. They can move from being a fashion or travel influencer in their 20s to becoming a wedding influencer once they’re engaged and to a parenting influencer merely by hitting some of life’s big milestones, taking their built-in audience on the journey with them.</p>
<p>Children, however, cannot consent to being the star of their parents’ show. </p>
<p>While a child could feasibly find it “fun to be in mommy’s video,” it is unlikely they understand the long-term ramifications of being broadcast to thousands – even millions – of followers. The oversharing of images of children is even a <a href="https://www.moms.com/how-parental-oversharing-on-social-media-harms-kids/">concern for many parents</a>, not just influencers.</p>
<p>But the business aspect of sponsored content adds another layer to this complicated issue. Who is protecting children’s financial interests for the money their influencer parents earn off this content? How much money do children earn for their parents by appearing in their content?</p>
<p>In addition to the financial ethics, the personal, emotional and mental toll cannot be overlooked. TikTok user <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@softscorpio/video/7181607593302052142?_r=1&_t=8YhPTt39R3y&is_from_webapp=v1&item_id=7181607593302052142">@softscorpio</a> has talked about her lingering trauma from being a child featured in a parent’s account. Sarah Adams, who goes by <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mom.uncharted/video/7180102716969028869?_t=8YhPYYOfBbH&_r=1">@Mom.UnCharted</a>, also tackles the issues of child social media exploitation and oversharing, talking about the ethical issues surrounding parent influencers and family YouTube channels. </p>
<p>Videos making fun of parent influencers also frequently circulate on TikTok, whether it’s through <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@britthardt/video/7083538878166011142?_t=8YhPUMqnAvz&_r=1">mocking the aesthetics of these influencers</a> or <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thatmomshai/video/6992248902929992965?_t=8YhPWW8q7uV&_r=1">humorously critiquing the ways in which parents force their children to work</a> to build their brand and appease their following. </p>
<h2>Updating the Coogan Act for the digital age</h2>
<p>In 1939, California passed the <a href="https://www.sagaftra.org/membership-benefits/young-performers/coogan-law">Coogan Act</a>. The law, also known as the <a href="https://via.library.depaul.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1284&context=jatip">California Child Actor’s Bill</a>, was named for former child actor Jackie Coogan, whom many <a href="https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/10/29/coogan-act-stopped-parents-of-famous-child-actors-seizing-all-the-childs-money/?chrome=1">hail as America’s first child actor</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Black and white portrait of a boy wearing a knit hat and overalls." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504083/original/file-20230111-14-1n9urx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504083/original/file-20230111-14-1n9urx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=787&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504083/original/file-20230111-14-1n9urx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=787&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504083/original/file-20230111-14-1n9urx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=787&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504083/original/file-20230111-14-1n9urx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=989&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504083/original/file-20230111-14-1n9urx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=989&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/504083/original/file-20230111-14-1n9urx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=989&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The parents of child actor Jackie Coogan squandered most of the fortune he earned.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/american-child-actor-jackie-coogan-wearing-a-ragged-cap-news-photo/3241464?phrase=jackie%20coogan&adppopup=true">Hulton Archive/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>He became famous after appearing as Charlie Chaplin’s adopted son in the 1921 film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0012349/">The Kid</a>.” But when Coogan reached adulthood, he learned that his mother and stepfather <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/child-influencers-exploitation-legal-protection/">had squandered</a> the US$4 million he had earned – what would amount to tens of millions of dollars today. </p>
<p>After Coogan sued his parents and was able to reclaim only a fraction of what was left of his earnings, the California Legislature passed the Coogan Act. <a href="https://www.sagaftra.org/membership-benefits/young-performers/coogan-law/coogan-law-full-text">The law</a> protects children who have been hired as “an actor, actress, dancer, musician, comedian, singer, or other performer or entertainer” and stipulates that their earnings must be safeguarded for them until they reach adulthood. Nine other states <a href="https://www.morganstanley.com/articles/trust-account-for-child-performer#:%7E:text=Who%20Needs%20a%20Coogan%20Account,Carolina%2C%20Pennsylvania%2C%20and%20Tennessee.">have since enacted similar legislation</a>. </p>
<p>While some <a href="https://www.culawreview.org/journal/is-kidfluencing-child-labor-how-the-youngest-influencers-remain-legally-unprotected">lobbyists and activists</a> have called for the Coogan Act to be applied to the children of parent influencers at the federal level, regulations have not yet been adopted. </p>
<p>The Coogan Act was written to protect children in “<a href="https://onlabor.org/new-child-labor-laws-needed-to-protect-child-influencers/">traditional” entertainment</a>. However, the lines between “traditional” entertainment and social media entertainment <a href="https://www.diggitmagazine.com/articles/product-placement-hollywood-social-media">continue to blur</a>, making this distinction less and less sound.</p>
<p>Additionally, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which protects children from “excessive labor,” <a href="https://www.today.com/parents/celebrity/child-reality-tv-social-media-stars-legal-protection-rcna54602">has not been updated to apply to child influencers</a>, or the children who regularly appear in the feeds of their parents. There’s a notable distinction between child influencers, <a href="https://www.newswise.com/articles/a-force-of-influence-children-as-youtube-stars">who may run their own feeds and businesses</a>, and children who are featured by their parents. But the Fair Labor Standards Act protects neither, and even children who run their own social media careers may still have their finances regulated by their parents.</p>
<p>Some parent influencers could easily set aside money earned either by or off their kids in trusts or college funds. But there’s nothing in place that specifically requires this.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.loc.gov/item/global-legal-monitor/2020-10-30/france-parliament-adopts-law-to-protect-child-influencers-on-social-media/">France</a> has already passed legislation protecting the commercial use of children under 16 on social media.</p>
<p>It’s hard not to see at least some precedent in the Coogan Act, particularly the part that refers to “other performers and entertainers.” With debates about the ethics and exploitation of children by parent influencers gaining steam in the U.S., it will be interesting to see whether there will be legislative updates to the definition of child labor in the digital age.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196463/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jessica Maddox does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some of the now-adult children of influencers are pushing back.Jessica Maddox, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Creative Media, University of AlabamaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1874972022-12-28T09:20:34Z2022-12-28T09:20:34ZWhy aren’t children allowed to vote? An expert debunks the arguments against<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493550/original/file-20221104-10296-1za1xx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C73%2C5414%2C3563&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-preteen-friends-park-smiling-camera-735971812">Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most people think democracy is something that adults do and regard the prospect of children voting as too silly to even contemplate. In the early 20th century, many democracies began (ostensibly) operating with universal suffrage, ensuring voting rights were no longer withheld from adults on the basis of wealth or sex or race. But age thresholds have endured, and children continue to be excluded from democracy – an exclusion based on what they are (young), and adults’ assumptions about what it means to be young.</p>
<p>However, in a <a href="https://www.cypcs.org.uk/wpcypcs/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/crc-report-2020.pdf">2020 report to the UN</a>, the UK’s children’s commissioner concluded that the UK government “does not prioritise children’s rights or voices in policy or legislative processes”. Consequently, the report argued, children’s economic status is often worse than older people’s, and during crises such as the COVID pandemic, their insights and needs are ignored. They didn’t have a say in Brexit and their concerns about the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34895496/">environment</a> are routinely marginalised, despite children being set to bear the brunt of both.</p>
<p>A number of countries allow teenagers <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/legal-voting-age-by-country.html">aged 16 and 17</a> to vote, but I think we should be thinking harder about our reasons for disenfranchising even very young children. If we’re excluding them unfairly, the credibility of democracy is at risk. Here are three common arguments against children voting. In each case, I believe the grounds for exclusion are a lot less secure than we might think. </p>
<h2>1. Children are too ill-informed to vote</h2>
<p>The most common response to the question “why can’t children vote?” is that children are too ill-informed or irrational to do it properly. While adults are capable of understanding what they are voting on, it’s too much to expect of children, whose cognitive abilities are much less developed. Children are unlikely to think for themselves, but rather copy the views of authority figures like parents and teachers.</p>
<p>This may be true. But at what point does knowledge or rationality become relevant to voting, and what it is that voters need in order to vote “well” or “responsibly”? Is it the capacity to identify candidates or political parties? Or the ability to analyse politicians’ past performances and future promises? Must voters understand the legislative process and the roles of the various branches of government?</p>
<p>Though these insights are probably useful, there’s no agreement on what’s essential. And because we’re not sure what’s required, it’s impossible to say adults have it – whatever <em>it</em> is – and children don’t.</p>
<p>In fact, the differences between children and adults are likely narrower than we commonly suppose: 35% of UK adult voters <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2020/12/02/yougov-democracy-study">can’t identify their local MP</a> while, at different times, 59% of Americans haven’t been sure which party their state governor belongs to, and only 44% have been able to <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691169446/democracy-for-realists">name a branch of government</a>. We let these adults vote, and rightly so, yet disqualify <em>all</em> children for apparently exhibiting the same characteristics.</p>
<p>The fact that adults don’t need to show franchise credentials or an independence of mind shows that voting is not a privilege of competency, but rather a right of citizenship. The franchise should therefore be enjoyed by all citizens, including children and even babies. </p>
<p>If this seems frivolous, consider that very young children who can’t walk or hold a pen are extremely unlikely, in practice, to exercise their right to vote – much as many adults, for any number of reasons, decline to exercise theirs. What’s important is that whenever citizens acquire an inclination to vote – a motivation that presupposes an understanding of what elections do and how they work – the option should be available. Whether they’re four or 94. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman's hand and a small child's hand put a vote into a ballot box together" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493547/original/file-20221104-19-nvn7xr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=746%2C511%2C2778%2C1855&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493547/original/file-20221104-19-nvn7xr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493547/original/file-20221104-19-nvn7xr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493547/original/file-20221104-19-nvn7xr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493547/original/file-20221104-19-nvn7xr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493547/original/file-20221104-19-nvn7xr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493547/original/file-20221104-19-nvn7xr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If knowledge or rationality were necessary to vote, many adults wouldn’t have the right.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/womans-kids-hands-puting-card-vote-1529854547">Dziurek / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>2. Children voting would lead to policy chaos</h2>
<p>Another argument against children voting is that it would lead to policy chaos. If children are irrational and incoherent but nevertheless allowed to vote, the outcome of elections, and the policy decisions they give rise to, would surely reflect or be distorted by their ill-conceived and incoherent votes.</p>
<p>However, this misunderstands the role of elections. Voting is not the same as making law. To vote isn’t to decide what happens or get one’s way, or even necessarily to set the political agenda. Distilling public opinion is a messy and complicated process. And because the link between what the public wants and what it gets isn’t always direct or obvious, wacky voter beliefs aren’t necessarily echoed in policy.</p>
<p>This is why representative democracies can function with vast numbers of uninformed and irrational citizens. In fact, overcoming voter ignorance is precisely what representative politics – in which the people elect representatives to take decisions on their behalf – is all about. </p>
<p>Voting, therefore, is a statement of equality, a recognition of equal moral standing. More concretely, it’s a (loose) guarantee that one’s concerns and perspectives will not be systematically overlooked by politicians. The fact that children can’t vote means they’re denied this respect and protection. As the historic experiences of excluded women and ethnic minorities show us, this is not a good position to be in.</p>
<h2>3. Voting rights shouldn’t come before other rights</h2>
<p>The third objection to giving children the vote relates to the order in which particular rights and responsibilities are acquired. Voting is a serious business, the argument goes, and thus the right to vote should coincide with, or follow, the right to perform other activities of similar weight and consequence, such as smoking and drinking, getting married or joining the army.</p>
<p>However, it’s worth asking why <em>any</em> of these rights are postponed in the first place. The basic answer is that exercising these rights is potentially harmful, so they’re only conferred on individuals who understand, and are likely to be mindful of, the risks. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of young people in school uniforms with a handpainted sign reading 'Stop burning our future'/" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493548/original/file-20221104-12-niajzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493548/original/file-20221104-12-niajzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493548/original/file-20221104-12-niajzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493548/original/file-20221104-12-niajzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493548/original/file-20221104-12-niajzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493548/original/file-20221104-12-niajzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493548/original/file-20221104-12-niajzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Youth activism has gained traction worldwide with the climate movement.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/melbourne-victoria-australia-may-21-2021-1978126466">Christie Cooper / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We withhold such rights from children because (we assume) they often fail to think through the consequences of their actions. However, we don’t stop heedless adults exercising their liberty in a self-destructive way. So why aren’t children granted the same latitude?</p>
<p>The answer has something to do with protecting children’s <em>potential</em>. We deny children harmful freedoms so as not to jeopardise their future freedoms, to ensure they reach adulthood with as many life opportunities as possible. </p>
<p>This rationale holds vis-à-vis the right to drink or the age of consent. But it works less well with voting rights, which aren’t obviously dangerous and pose no direct threat to children’s future wellbeing.</p>
<p>It seems, therefore, that children are suffering an injustice: they’re being denied the vote without adequate justification. At the same time, young people are acutely <a href="https://www.bennettinstitute.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Youth_and_Satisfaction_with_Democracy-lite.pdf">dissatisfied with democracy</a>, in part because they’re overlooked in democratic decision-making.</p>
<p>Enfranchisement is not a silver bullet. But unless the place of children in democracy is improved and deepened, political division and democratic distrust will surely worsen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187497/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Harry Pearse does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Our assumptions about what it means to be young have left millions of people disenfranchised.Harry Pearse, Research associate, Centre for the Future of Democracy, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1944962022-11-17T21:33:18Z2022-11-17T21:33:18ZOn World Children’s Day, let’s recognize that children’s rights include mental health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495964/original/file-20221117-15-9tnmd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=490%2C36%2C7591%2C4880&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In a Spring 2022 survey of parents with kids between ages six and 17 years, more than 50 per cent perceived that their child had needed help regarding their emotional or behavioural problems in the past six months.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.unicef.org/world-childrens-day">World Children’s Day</a> is Nov. 20, when we celebrate the importance of children’s rights and of safeguarding adequate physical, mental, spiritual and social development for every child around the world. </p>
<p>These rights, laid out in the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">UN Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>, should be universally accepted and supported, but this is often not the case for many children around the globe, even in wealthy nations such as Canada. In fact, Canada continues to fall behind regarding the mental health and well-being of children, ranking 30th out of 38 wealthy nations in <a href="https://www.unicef.ca/en/unicef-report-card-16">UNICEF’s 2020 report card</a> on the state of children and youth worldwide. </p>
<p>The poor standing of mental health and well-being of children and youth in Canada highlights the need to invest and prioritize mental health supports and services for children and their families, a call that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0706743719830033">pre-dates the pandemic</a>. The best time to act was then; the second-best time is now.</p>
<h2>Children’s mental health challenges in Canada</h2>
<p>Children’s mental health challenges have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence shows that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/cbs0000305">substance use</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.09.025">eating disorders</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01744-3">anxiety and mood difficulties</a> have increased. Pediatric hospitals in Canada saw an increase in the number of cases presenting to <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2793932">emergency departments</a> <a href="https://annals-general-psychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12991-022-00398-y">for mental health concerns</a>.</p>
<p>Canadian studies show that <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042871">nearly 25 per cent</a> of parents report that their children’s mental health has decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. With an increase in mental health needs, it follows that the need for services and supports has also increased.</p>
<h2>A crisis in child mental health care access</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two teen boys listening to an adult; all three are sitting in chairs facing each other," src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495966/original/file-20221117-20809-6elxpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495966/original/file-20221117-20809-6elxpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495966/original/file-20221117-20809-6elxpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495966/original/file-20221117-20809-6elxpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495966/original/file-20221117-20809-6elxpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495966/original/file-20221117-20809-6elxpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495966/original/file-20221117-20809-6elxpb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prior to the pandemic, there were more than 28,000 children on waitlists for mental health treatment in Ontario, with wait times exceeding 2.5 years to receive service.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Children’s Mental Health Ontario and the <a href="https://cmho.org/kids-cant-wait/#:%7E:text=Kids%20Can't%20Wait,and%20where%20it%20is%20needed.">#KidsCantWait campaign</a> demonstrated that prior to the pandemic, there were more than 28,000 children on waitlists for mental health services, sometimes waiting up to 2.5 years. Last summer, a survey revealed that <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/more-than-half-of-canadians-say-the-pandemic-negatively-impacted-their-children-report-1.6030067">more than 50 per cent of parents</a> say their children are still experiencing negative impacts of the pandemic. </p>
<p>In Spring 2022, we found similar results in Québec based on a sample of 2,500 parents surveyed by our research group at Université Laval. Indeed, more than 50 per cent of the parents of children and adolescents between ages six and 17 years perceived that their child had needed help with emotional or behavioural problems in the past six months. These results are striking when compared to a 2014 study in Ontario, when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0706743719830035">18.9 per cent of parents perceived mental health needs for their child</a>. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, children’s mental health service providers across the country have reported <a href="https://cmho.org/skyrocketing-demands-for-kids-mental-health-services/">extensive increases</a> in mental health service demand, including a doubling of calls for services and wait times. In addition to the consequences for children and adolescents, increases in perceived unmet needs during the pandemic was shown to lead to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.884591">increases in parental depression and anxiety</a>. </p>
<p>This pandemic has been described as a <a href="https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/sg_policy_brief_covid-19_and_education_august_2020.pdf">generational catastrophe</a>, particularly for children and youth from <a href="https://childrenfirstcanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/RC2022_CFC_RC-Report_09-02.pdf">equity-deserving groups</a>, including First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children, children from racialized communities, gender and sexually diverse youth, and young people with disabilities. Every child, regardless of background, social status, or location, should have access to high quality mental health assessment and support.</p>
<h2>Call to action</h2>
<p><strong>1. Preventing mental health challenges: Earlier is better</strong></p>
<p>The best way to address increases in mental health needs is to implement services and policies that prevent their development. Targeting the early years of life makes sense because most mental health difficulties in early adulthood have their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.593">origin in childhood</a>. As such, improved access to early childhood services, awareness of early childhood mental health, support and education for caregivers and community providers, as well as community-based early mental health promotion, <a href="https://mentalhealthcommission.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/early_childhood_one_pager_eng.pdf">are critical</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Closeup faces of happy children embracing each other and smiling, photographed from below" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495968/original/file-20221117-22-etb122.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495968/original/file-20221117-22-etb122.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495968/original/file-20221117-22-etb122.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495968/original/file-20221117-22-etb122.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495968/original/file-20221117-22-etb122.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495968/original/file-20221117-22-etb122.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495968/original/file-20221117-22-etb122.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The most consistent assets of resilient children and adolescents are caring families, healthy schools and good peer relationships.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>2. Supporting children and adolescents by supporting adults</strong></p>
<p>The most consistent assets of resilient children and adolescents are caring families, healthy schools and good peer relationships. Prevention efforts must therefore not only address children, but also the environments in which they grow. The <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-stop-assuming-most-kids-will-be-resilient-in-the-face-of-covid-19-when/?utm_medium=Referrer:+Social+Network+/+Media&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links">adults in children’s lives must be healthy</a> and supported for children and adolescents to flourish. Resiliency is not ingrained; it is fostered by strengthening <a href="https://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/guides-and-publications/growing-up-resilient">individuals, families and environments</a>. If it takes a village to raise a child, we need to build and maintain a village that promotes resiliency.</p>
<p><strong>3. Increasing funding for child and family mental health services</strong></p>
<p>The <a href="https://cmha.ca/joint-statement-from-members-of-the-child-and-youth-mental-health-sector-and-its-stakeholders/">Canadian Mental Health Association</a> and other allied organizations have put forward a call for increased funding for child and youth mental health services to address service gaps. In addition to the benefits for individuals, results show that the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007759">return on investment</a> for every dollar spent on preventing and treating mental health difficulties in youth is $23.60. These investments not only lead to increases in well-being but are also good economic policy.</p>
<p><strong>4. Improving service access</strong></p>
<p>Access to mental health services needs to improve across the country. For most children, mental health services are obtained <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0706743719830024">through schools</a>. With increased funding and support, mental health promotion and intervention in schools can provide increased access for children and adolescents. Alternatively, <a href="https://rsc-src.ca/sites/default/files/C%26S%20PB_EN_0.pdf">ongoing access to virtual approaches</a> to mental health services can provide accessible and efficient options to mental health supports with a high potential for broadened reach across the country.</p>
<h2>National Child Day in Canada</h2>
<p>In addition to World Children’s Day, in Canada <a href="https://nationalchildday.org/">National Child Day</a> is also celebrated on Nov. 20 to recognize our country’s commitment to uphold children’s rights. This day is also a good opportunity to take a moment to look back on the commitments, initiatives and policies that have actually been implemented, as well as look forward to those that should be put in place. Now is not the time to wait. Our children’s future starts today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194496/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>André Plamondon receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Racine receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. She sits on the Board of Trustees of Strong Minds, Strong Kids, Psychology Foundation of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tracy Vaillancourt receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>Canada ranks 30th out of 38 wealthy nations in supporting the mental health and well-being of children. The need to invest in and prioritize mental health for children and young people is urgent.André Plamondon, Full Professor, Faculty of Educational Sciences, Université LavalNicole Racine, Assistant professor, School of Psychology, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaTracy Vaillancourt, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in School-Based Mental Health and Violence Prevention, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1885132022-09-22T20:05:52Z2022-09-22T20:05:52ZWhy children’s ‘choice’ about COVID-19 masking at school needs far more discussion<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485313/original/file-20220919-14-n1gi4c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C886%2C3338%2C1760&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Who is determining children's capacity to decide whether or not to wear a mask and what's at stake in their decision?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Public health pandemic responses across Canada continue to be fluid. Like other provinces, Nova Scotia has moved away from <a href="https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/restrictions-and-guidance/">mandatory</a> masking protocols in public spaces toward individual choice and <a href="https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/avoiding-infection/">recommendations</a>, including in schools. </p>
<p>Communication to families of school-aged children directs students, teachers, and staff <a href="https://backtoschool.ednet.ns.ca/public-health-guidance">to make their own choice</a> about masking. </p>
<p>Can a five-year-old make such a health-related decision on their own behalf? What about an 11-year-old?</p>
<p>From our vantage point as academics who work <a href="https://www.msvu.ca/academics/faculty-of-education/faculty-profiles/dr-krista-ritchie/">at intersections</a> <a href="https://www.msvu.ca/academics/faculty-of-education/faculty-profiles/dr-sara-king/">of education and health care</a>, public health recommendations and provinces’ removal of clear masking requirements don’t appear to consider a child’s capacity to make decisions that affect their health.</p>
<p>How this “individual choice” approach plays out for students in schools needs to be carefully considered. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A teacher wears a mask next to a list of pandemic rules in the classroom about keeping one's mask on and washing hands." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485326/original/file-20220919-24-42yat0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485326/original/file-20220919-24-42yat0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485326/original/file-20220919-24-42yat0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485326/original/file-20220919-24-42yat0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485326/original/file-20220919-24-42yat0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485326/original/file-20220919-24-42yat0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485326/original/file-20220919-24-42yat0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When provinces mandated wearing masks at school in earlier stages of the pandemic, teachers were responsible for leading and enforcing mask wearing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who is responsible for children’s health?</h2>
<p>As children’s rights advocates have noted throughout the pandemic, it is unethical to <a href="https://theconversation.com/world-childrens-day-young-people-deserve-to-be-heard-during-covid-19-149904">exclude children from conversations</a> about issues that affect them.</p>
<p>However, the child’s right to be heard does not necessarily translate into being capable of making complex health-related decisions for themselves.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.emro.who.int/entity/child-adolescent-health/home.html">The World Health Organization</a> leads global initiatives to protect the health of children and supports countries who want assistance developing their own national policies.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/corporate/health-portfolio.html">federal government</a>, in large part through <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada.html">Health Canada</a>, is responsible for maintaining and improving the health of Canadians in line with the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-care-system/canada-health-care-system-medicare/canada-health-act.html">Canada Health Act</a>.</p>
<p>Each <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/canada-health-care-system.html">provincial government</a> is responsible for the management and delivery of health-care services.</p>
<p>Adult guardians hold decision-making responsibility on behalf of their children’s health.</p>
<p>Why, then, are students deciding for themselves whether or not to wear a mask in enclosed public spaces during a pandemic? </p>
<h2>Ethical decision-making capacity?</h2>
<p>For ethical reasons, fields like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1982.04290080061009">clinical psychology</a>, health care and law are concerned with a person’s capacity to make decisions.</p>
<p>Medical researchers and doctors Craig Barstow and colleagues <a href="https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2018/0701/p40.html">argue that patients have medical decision-making capacity if they can</a> “demonstrate understanding of the situation, appreciate the consequences of their decision and reasoning in their thought process, and if they can communicate their wishes.”</p>
<p>The work on specifically understanding a child’s competency to make choices that affect one’s health and development is widely known in <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/350208">health-care</a> and <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=XNrbMMGWi6gC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=Evaluating+competencies:+Forensic+Instruments&ots=_jNl_78h6y&sig=0JYWimDLNGNuvYxGPGQHILKEOTQ#v=onepage&q=Evaluating%20competencies%3A%20Forensic%20Instruments&f=false">legal settings</a> serving children and adolescents. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of research on a child’s capacity to make decisions in school settings. </p>
<p>Fundamentally, the criteria for being capable to make a decision are the same for children as adults. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Children standing outside a school wearing masks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485331/original/file-20220919-24-gbfp47.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485331/original/file-20220919-24-gbfp47.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485331/original/file-20220919-24-gbfp47.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485331/original/file-20220919-24-gbfp47.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485331/original/file-20220919-24-gbfp47.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485331/original/file-20220919-24-gbfp47.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485331/original/file-20220919-24-gbfp47.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=559&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Can children appreciate the consequences of a decision to mask or not to mask?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What adults need to ask</h2>
<p>Key questions adults need to ask themselves when determining a child’s capacity to decide include:</p>
<ol>
<li>What supports does the child have, and what unique risk factors might need to be considered in each context?</li>
<li>Does the child understand and can they communicate the question being asked in their own words? </li>
<li>Does the child have the autonomy needed to make a decision for themselves?</li>
<li>Is there an established relationship with an adult whereby a child can feel comfortable asking questions to clarify understanding of the decision and potential short- and long-term consequences? Which adult is responsible for this in classrooms?</li>
<li>Do guardians expect teachers to be responsible for enforcing choices parents want children to make? If so, how will teachers manage this?</li>
<li>Will peer-comparison or other social pressures unduly influence the child? </li>
<li>Do the responsible adults in that child’s life (guardians, teachers, school leadership, politicians establishing recommendations) understand that they are ultimately responsible for any risks that children take regarding their own health? </li>
</ol>
<p><a href="https://novascotia.ca/dhw/phia/documents/chapters/4-Consent-Capacity-and-Substitute-Decision-Makers.pdf">In Nova Scotia</a>, unlike the legislated age to drive (16), or to vote (18), there is no specified age a child must reach before they are able to make decisions that relate to their health. </p>
<p>Where psychologists, social workers or physicians are involved with children’s health and wellness, the treating psychologist, social worker or physician must determine, on a case by case basis, whether a child is capable of making decisions in their best interest. </p>
<p>Teachers are not trained to determine capacity to decide. Have we given children a choice that they cannot make? </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-are-on-the-front-lines-with-students-in-the-coronavirus-pandemic-149896">Teachers are on the front lines with students in the coronavirus pandemic</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Difficult to assess</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485632/original/file-20220920-3640-jtvdmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A box of masks seen on a school table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485632/original/file-20220920-3640-jtvdmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485632/original/file-20220920-3640-jtvdmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485632/original/file-20220920-3640-jtvdmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485632/original/file-20220920-3640-jtvdmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485632/original/file-20220920-3640-jtvdmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485632/original/file-20220920-3640-jtvdmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485632/original/file-20220920-3640-jtvdmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How are children thinking about possible futures and evidence when they consider whether or not to mask?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Decision-making capacity is difficult to assess <a href="http://www.nsbep.org/downloads/Age_of_consent_position_statement.pdf">in children</a>, and develops from early to late childhood and into adolescence. </p>
<p>As explained in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Piaget">the psychologist Piaget’s</a> theory of cognitive development, a child who has not yet reached <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvq7tq2fx1Y">adolescence </a> is unlikely to have the capacity to think about possible futures. </p>
<p>This would include a child’s capacity to consider evidence in a way that helps them decide whether or not to wear a mask. </p>
<p>The issue for public education can be framed within one question: Who is determining students’ capacity to decide?</p>
<h2>Adults ultimately responsible</h2>
<p>It is critical that adults <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-014-2462-8">responsible for the health of children understand the complexity of decision-making capacity</a>, so as to decide whether it is developmentally appropriate to allow students in elementary and high schools to engage in health-related decision-making. </p>
<p>To be clear, we are not advocating for or against any particular health recommendation or mandate. Experts in infectious diseases and public health should lead that conversation. </p>
<p>However, our hope is this article raises awareness that, whereas children deserve agency in decisions that affect them, it is adults who are are ultimately responsible for fully considering the implications of federal and provincial mandates and policies on children’s rights and well-being — and subsequently for making decisions in children’s best interests.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188513/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children deserve agency in decisions that affect them, but adults are ultimately responsible for making decisions in children’s best interests.Krista C Ritchie, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Mount Saint Vincent UniversitySara King, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Mount Saint Vincent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1863052022-07-11T01:59:42Z2022-07-11T01:59:42ZChanges to the way Oranga Tamariki is monitored risk weakening children’s rights and protections – what should be done?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472918/original/file-20220707-23519-9dmrfm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=58%2C518%2C7803%2C4656&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A new law designed to improve oversight of the agencies charged with protecting children and young people is making its way through parliament. As it stands, there are serious concerns about how effective it will be once enacted.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://legislation.govt.nz/bill/government/2021/0094/latest/LMS591647.html">Oversight of Oranga Tamariki System and Children and Young People’s Commission Bill 2021</a> is described as providing for independent monitoring and complaints oversight for Oranga Tamariki, and greater advocacy for children’s and young people’s issues generally. </p>
<p>These are laudable goals, but of the 403 submissions to the select committee hearing submissions on the bill, 311 oppose the proposed law changes. Only eight are in favour, with the rest neutral. </p>
<p>The bill’s proposed changes are problematic for a number of reasons. One is that the bill still <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/NZL/INT_CRC_COC_NZL_25459_E.pdf">does not incorporate</a> the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic legislation. This would mean the convention rights would become part of the law of Aotearoa New Zealand. </p>
<p>One of the clear benefits of this would be that children’s rights – especially their rights to health, housing and food – would be more readily enforceable through the national courts. In other words, it would be easier to hold the government to account for its actions or inaction.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1540552612818604032"}"></div></p>
<h2>Changing roles and responsibilities</h2>
<p>The question of accountability becomes all the more important because the bill contains major changes to how the rights, interests and well-being of young New Zealanders are protected. </p>
<p>It proposes the establishment of an Independent Monitor of Oranga Tamariki that will assess how the child welfare agency is supporting children, young people and their whānau. It will replace the Independent Children’s Monitor, which was established as an independent crown entity in 2018. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-state-removal-of-maori-children-from-their-families-is-a-wound-that-wont-heal-but-there-is-a-way-forward-140243">The state removal of Māori children from their families is a wound that won't heal – but there is a way forward</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The new monitor will be a departmental agency within the Ministry of Education. This move has been <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/129037589/mps-across-the-house-get-in-line-to-criticise-oranga-tamariki-bill">criticised</a> for undermining the independence of the new monitor. </p>
<p>The bill also proposes that the Office of the Ombudsman will be the sole body responsible for investigating and resolving complaints on matters regarding the application of the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1989/0024/latest/DLM147088.html">Oranga Tamariki Act</a>. </p>
<p>This is particularly contentious because so far the Children’s Commissioner has had that role. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="UNICEF website" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472919/original/file-20220707-25845-hjye2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472919/original/file-20220707-25845-hjye2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472919/original/file-20220707-25845-hjye2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472919/original/file-20220707-25845-hjye2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472919/original/file-20220707-25845-hjye2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472919/original/file-20220707-25845-hjye2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472919/original/file-20220707-25845-hjye2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The reforms still don’t incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/in-this-photo-illustration-the-homepage-of-the-united-news-photo/1241291595">Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reduced powers and weaker oversight</h2>
<p>The transfer of investigative powers to the Ombudsman is not the only major change to the Children’s Commissioner, whose office will be replaced by a Children and Young People’s Commission. </p>
<p>The new commission will continue to promote and advance the interests and well-being of children and young people, but its role is weaker. </p>
<p>In particular, unlike the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2003/0121/latest/whole.html#DLM230435">current</a> Children’s Commissioner, it will not be able to advise on establishing complaints mechanisms for children or monitor the types of complaints made. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/children-had-no-say-in-new-zealands-well-being-budget-and-that-matters-118113">Children had no say in New Zealand's well-being budget, and that matters</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Stripping the new commission of any powers to deal with complaints has a much wider impact on the application of children’s rights in Aotearoa New Zealand. </p>
<p>If the new commission is not able to advise the multitude of organisations that work with children and young people about how to make a complaint, this will significantly limit the extent to which the government can be held accountable for any failure to protect children’s rights overall.</p>
<h2>Less scrutiny of government actions</h2>
<p>The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has already <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/NZL/INT_CRC_COC_NZL_25459_E.pdf">expressed concern</a> at the system of protecting children’s rights in Aotearoa. </p>
<p>In 2016, it recommended the Children’s Commissioner be given adequate resources to receive, investigate and address complaints from children. The new commission would appear to be a step in the opposite direction. </p>
<p>The UN also recommended that Aotearoa New Zealand commit itself to the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/optional-protocol-convention-rights-child-communications">complaints mechanism</a> of the convention, which would allow children to complain to the UN committee about breaches of their rights. </p>
<p>The government is <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/reports/document/SCR_119648/international-treaty-examination-of-the-optional-protocol"> examining</a> whether it will sign up to the complaints mechanism. </p>
<p>But its level of commitment to the complaints process looks questionable if the new Children and Young People’s Commission, as a body charged with promoting the rights, interests and well-being of New Zealand children, cannot investigate complaints.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Children with their arms raised" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472920/original/file-20220707-10369-dtgc01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472920/original/file-20220707-10369-dtgc01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472920/original/file-20220707-10369-dtgc01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472920/original/file-20220707-10369-dtgc01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472920/original/file-20220707-10369-dtgc01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472920/original/file-20220707-10369-dtgc01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472920/original/file-20220707-10369-dtgc01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Incorporation of the Children’s Rights Convention into domestic law would provide children with a clear legal mechanism to uphold their rights.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/photo/child-companionship-diversity-ethnicity-unity-royalty-free-image/668218964?adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Bad timing</h2>
<p>All these changes come at a time when young New Zealanders face declining physical and mental health, educational achievement and living standards, while the high levels of poverty and violence they experience persist. </p>
<p>For many young people, these outcomes are exacerbated by multiple forms of discrimination. More can and must be done.</p>
<p>Incorporation of the Children’s Rights Convention into domestic law would provide children in Aotearoa New Zealand with a clear legal mechanism to uphold their rights. </p>
<p>Even if the government continues with its (widely opposed) plan to give monitoring and investigative powers regarding Oranga Tamariki to the Independent Monitor and the Ombudsman only, it must restore the powers of the Children and Young People’s Commission to scrutinise the government’s effectiveness in protecting the remaining range of children’s rights.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186305/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Breen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new law intended to strengthen oversight of Oranga Tamariki and other agencies tasked to protect children has the potential to do the opposite.Claire Breen, Professor of Law, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1855652022-06-27T15:35:41Z2022-06-27T15:35:41ZAre the kids alright? Why Canada must urgently step up to ensure children’s rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470561/original/file-20220623-53892-fnpyrt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4792%2C3211&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation children play in water sprinklers during National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations in Mississauga, Ont., on June 21, 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child recently issued its long-awaited <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/CAN/CRC_C_CAN_CO_5-6_48911_E.pdf">concluding observations</a> on Canada’s compliance with international human rights law regarding children. </p>
<p>One of the committee’s key recommendations advised Canada to establish an independent mechanism for monitoring children’s rights by receiving, investigating and addressing complaints by children in a child-sensitive, child-friendly manner. </p>
<p>As researchers in children’s rights, this recommendation did not come as a surprise to us. We have canvassed all human rights laws in Canada and determined these laws generally don’t guarantee child-sensitive and child-friendly processes. </p>
<p>Much more needs to be done to respect the human rights of children in Canada in keeping with international human rights law and the recommendations made by the UN committee. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-provinces-must-respect-childrens-rights-to-education-whether-or-not-schools-reopen-in-september-142802">COVID-19: Provinces must respect children's rights to education whether or not schools reopen in September</a>
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<h2>Children as rights bearers</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">The Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>, ratified by Canada in 1991 and <a href="https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention#:%7E:text=In%201989%2C%20world%20leaders%20made,children's%20lives%20around%20the%20world.">the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history</a>, recognizes children as rights bearers.</p>
<p>Under the convention, children have the right to be heard in legal proceedings that directly or indirectly affect them. According to the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, <a href="https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/766759?ln=en">access to justice is a fundamental right on its own, but also an essential prerequisite for the protection and promotion of all other human rights.</a> </p>
<p>Simply put, legal proceedings that aren’t adapted to the needs and realities of children may have a negative impact on other human rights. Because children play an increasingly important role in litigation involving the most pressing human rights issues of our time — including climate change and reconciliation — efforts must be made to ensure that legal processes are child-sensitive and child-friendly.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Drummers beat their drums at a large gathering with mountains in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470572/original/file-20220623-51375-cavjae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470572/original/file-20220623-51375-cavjae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470572/original/file-20220623-51375-cavjae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470572/original/file-20220623-51375-cavjae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470572/original/file-20220623-51375-cavjae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470572/original/file-20220623-51375-cavjae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470572/original/file-20220623-51375-cavjae.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Drummers play and sing during a May ceremony to mark the one-year anniversary of the discovery of the remains of 215 children at an unmarked burial site at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Are children’s rights human rights?</h2>
<p>There has been a recent proliferation of child-initiated legal proceedings. <a href="https://www.amnesty.ca/legal-brief/environnement-jeunesse-enjeu-v-attorney-general-canada/">For example, ENvironnement JEUnesse, a youth-led environmental group, is seeking to sue the government of Canada for its failure to take action to curb climate change</a>, claiming that it amounts to a violation of their rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. </p>
<p>Despite recent youth leadership in human rights litigation, our research has shown that few Canadian courts and administrative tribunals are equipped to deal with legal proceedings concerning the human rights of children in a child-sensitive and child-friendly manner. </p>
<p>In fact, in five Canadian jurisdictions, human rights laws — which are meant to promote equality in society — tacitly permit discrimination against children and youth on the basis of their age. </p>
<p>For example, the <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/ontario-human-rights-code">Human Rights Code of Ontario</a> excludes people under 18 years old in the definition of age. This means that it’s legal in Ontario for a service provider — like a restaurant or a store, for example — to refuse to serve a meal to a young person under 18 or to sell them a pair of shoes on the basis of their age.</p>
<p>What’s more, apart from Québec, no human rights commission or tribunal in the country has specific rules of procedure to ensure that complaints are dealt with in a child-sensitive and child-friendly manner. It’s therefore no surprise that the UN committee criticized Canada for failing to have an independent mechanism for monitoring children’s rights and urged it to put one in place. </p>
<h2>A success story</h2>
<p>But does this mean that all human rights litigation in Canada is conducted in a manner that is not child-sensitive or child-friendly? Not exactly. </p>
<p>In fact, there are some success stories that saw decision-makers place the needs and best interests of children at the heart of how they dealt with human rights cases even when not required to do so by law or rules of procedure. </p>
<p>One shining example of this is <em>Caring Society v Canada</em>, a case before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal regarding Canada’s discriminatory treatment against First Nations children in its provision of public services to them. “This decision concerns children” was the first sentence of the <a href="https://www.canlii.org/en/ca/chrt/doc/2016/2016chrt2/2016chrt2.pdf">historic 2016 ruling by the tribunal asserting the equality rights of more than 165,000 children and it perfectly captures how the litigation was conducted.</a></p>
<p>The case was a veritable showpiece on how to conduct a human rights proceeding in child-sensitive and child-friendly manner.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in a blue shirt wearing an eagle necklace embraces a woman." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470557/original/file-20220623-51658-2w9vtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470557/original/file-20220623-51658-2w9vtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470557/original/file-20220623-51658-2w9vtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470557/original/file-20220623-51658-2w9vtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470557/original/file-20220623-51658-2w9vtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470557/original/file-20220623-51658-2w9vtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470557/original/file-20220623-51658-2w9vtx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde embraces Cindy Blackstock, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society Caring Society executive director, as they speak about the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal regarding discrimination against First Nations children at a 2016 news conference.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Firstly, the tribunal incorporated “the best interest of the child” in its legal interpretation of the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/h-6/">Canadian Human Rights Act</a>. In particular, it ruled that for Canada to comply with its legal obligations under the act, it must consider the best interests of First Nations children in the design and provision of services to them. </p>
<p>Secondly, the tribunal allowed children to participate in the hearings in various age-appropriate ways. For example, children sang a song at the beginning and end of the hearing and the proceedings were televised to make them accessible and free to children across the country. </p>
<p>The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal also ensured that the space was welcoming for children by setting aside rooms in which they could eat, leave their coats and bags and discuss the case with their schoolmates. </p>
<p>Finally, the tribunal did not require children and youth to testify about the harm they experienced as a result of discrimination <a href="https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/09/29/Indigenous-Kids-Win-Court-Rejects-Ottawa-Bid-Human-Rights-Order/">to find the Canadian Human Rights Act had been breached and to order compensation to be paid to the children</a>.</p>
<p>This prevented children and youth from being re-traumatized to have access to remedies they’re entitled to due to the violation of their human rights.</p>
<h2>What now?</h2>
<p>It’s deeply troubling that human rights processes in Canada generally do not provide for child-sensitive and child-friendly processes and in fact, often exclude protection of children against age-based discrimination. </p>
<p>The good news is that decision-makers can look to <em>Caring Society v Canada</em> <a href="https://lawjournal.mcgill.ca/article/the-complainant-the-canadian-human-rights-case-on-first-nations-child-welfare/">as an example to follow</a> when it comes to overseeing legal proceedings concerning the human rights of children in a manner that is sensitive to their needs and child-friendly. </p>
<p>As children in Canada increasingly step up in important leadership roles in human rights advocacy, they’re long overdue to be recognized as human rights bearers. This means human rights processes across the country must be accessible to and welcoming for children, and an independent mechanism for monitoring children’s rights must be put in place.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185565/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Levesque is a fellow with the Broadbent Institute. Along with Professors Mona Paré (Principal Investigator/Project Director) and Daniella Mento (Collaborator), she received an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to conduct the research mentioned in this article. She is also one of the lawyers who represented the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada in its human rights complaint leading to a landmark victory in 2016 that affirms the right to equality of over 165,000 First Nations children.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Malorie Kanaan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Under international law, children have the right to be heard in legal proceedings directly or indirectly affecting them. Canada must step up to ensure all human rights apply to kids as they do adults.Anne Levesque, Assistant professor, Faculty of Law, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaMalorie Kanaan, LLM droit, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1850852022-06-19T12:51:09Z2022-06-19T12:51:09ZThe Amazon rainforest is disappearing quickly — and threatening Indigenous people who live there<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468841/original/file-20220614-12-40vasd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C23%2C3970%2C2670&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A child from the Mayuruna ethnic group stands on a pier on the banks of the Atalaia do Norte River in Amazonas state, Brazil, on June 12, 2022. Federal police and military forces are searching and investigating the disappearance of British journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous affairs expert Bruno Araujo Pereira. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Edmar Barros)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Forests throughout the world are shrinking year after year — and Brazil is the epicentre. According to the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/what-animals-live-in-the-amazon-and-8-other-amazon-facts">World Wildlife Fund</a>, more than a quarter of the Amazon rainforest will be devoid of trees by 2030 if <a href="https://time.com/amazon-rainforest-disappearing/">cutting continues at the same speed</a>.</p>
<p>If nothing is done to stop it, an estimated <a href="https://www.wwf.org.uk/sites/default/files/2021-12/WWF%20briefing%20-%20Westminster%20Hall%20debate%20on%20Amazon%20deforestation%205%20January%202022.pdf">40 per cent of this unique forest</a> will be razed by 2050.</p>
<p>Beyond the material and environmental consequences, this deforestation also <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/ClimateChange/COP21.pdf">threatens human rights</a>, including the rights of marginalized communities to life, physical integrity, a reasonable quality of life and dignity. Brazil is one of the most worrying cases in this regard.</p>
<p>As a PhD student in political science, my research interests include climate justice, the energy transition, the green economy and international environmental politics.</p>
<h2>Chainsaw massacre</h2>
<p>Article 25 of the <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf">United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a> rules that these communities fully possess “the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other resources.”</p>
<p>This article is not being respected by the Brazilian government in the Amazon.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468265/original/file-20220610-28106-bfsenj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C1%2C985%2C745&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Aerial drone view of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Trees illegally cut and burned to open up land for agriculture and livestock in the Jamanxim National Forest, Para, Brazil" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468265/original/file-20220610-28106-bfsenj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C1%2C985%2C745&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468265/original/file-20220610-28106-bfsenj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468265/original/file-20220610-28106-bfsenj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468265/original/file-20220610-28106-bfsenj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468265/original/file-20220610-28106-bfsenj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468265/original/file-20220610-28106-bfsenj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468265/original/file-20220610-28106-bfsenj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Jair Bolsonaro’s government has contributed to the acceleration of deforestation in the Amazon, threatening various Indigenous peoples in the region.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although the country had pledged to significantly reduce deforestation and limit clear-cutting to 3,925 square kilometres, data from Human Rights Watch shows that chainsaws <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/brazil#74d7dc">have razed nearly 13,000 square kilometres of tropical forests</a>, making communities of Indigenous peoples even more vulnerable.</p>
<p>The rate of deforestation in these territories increased by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01368-x">34 per cent between 2018 and 2019, despite Brazil’s commitment in 2009 to reduce it by 80 per cent</a>. This has led to the forced displacement of communities over hundreds of kilometres, as well as major health problems and a loss of reference points. According to Human Rights Watch, nearly <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/04/19/crisis-brazilian-amazon">13,235 square kilometres of the Amazon rainforest</a> was clear cut between August 2020 and July 2021, an 22 per cent increase, compared to the same period in the previous year.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/elections-in-brazil-lula-faces-many-challenges-running-against-jair-bolsonaro-183494">This coincides</a> with Jair Bolsonaro’s accession to power. In the month of January 2022 alone, 430 square kilometres of tropical forest was destroyed, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60333422">five times more than in January 2021</a>.</p>
<h2>Threats and assassinations</h2>
<p>Multiple abuses have been documented in Brazil since the beginning of colonization, including <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/09/17/rainforest-mafias/how-violence-and-impunity-fuel-deforestation-brazils-amazon">the illegal encroachment of the Brazilian state</a> on Indigenous territories. Under Bolsonaro, the number of criminal networks contributing to the deforestation of the Amazon has multiplied. Organized crime views the large timber and agriculture industries as opportunities to move and launder money. The groups illegally exploit forest land, then <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90698713/a-hidden-major-cause-of-global-deforestation-organized-crime">hide drugs</a> in timber shipments destined for Europe or Asia.</p>
<p>Experts qualify this illegal activity as “<a href="https://dialogo-americas.com/articles/narcotrafficking-in-brazil-speeds-up-amazon-rainforest-destruction-and-increases-violence/#.Yp6lTi3pNN0">narco-deforestation</a>.” Numerous illegal gold and mineral extraction sites are also operating in the Amazon, and the companies running them often make threats to the <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/democraciaabierta/munduruku-fight-save-amazon-indigenous-world-deforestation/">Munduruku that live there</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/11/02/cop26-dont-be-fooled-bolsonaros-pledges">People and activists who have protested the ongoing deforestation</a> have been threatened, harassed and killed. In 2019, the NGO Global Witness recorded <a href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/all-countries-and-regions/brazil/">24 deaths of environmental activists and land defenders</a>, almost all occurring in the Amazon. This puts Brazil in third place among the countries with the highest number of deaths of environmental defenders, after <a href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/defending-tomorrow/">Colombia and the Philippines</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr19/5694/2022/en/">There are reminders of this in the news</a>. Bruno Araujo Pereira, a defender of environmental and Indigenous rights, and British journalist Dom Phillips have been missing since June 5, in an area called the Javari Valley, which has a reputation of being “<a href="https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2022/06/dom-phillips-and-bruno-araujo-pereira-brazil/">lawless</a>.”</p>
<p>According to a local organization, the two had received death threats shortly before disappearing. Brazilian police first said <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/belongings-found-journalist-indigenous-expert-amazon-brazil-1.6486476">search teams had discovered their belongings</a> and later <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/13/dom-phillips-bruno-pereira-bodies-found-brazil">that bodies were spotted in the area of their disappearance</a>. Police reported on June 15 they had <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/suspects-confess-killing-british-journalist-brazilian-guide-band-news-2022-06-15/">found human remains while searching for the pair</a> and that a fisherman who had fought with the pair had confessed to their killing.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468517/original/file-20220613-16-4qip2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="boat on a river in amazon" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468517/original/file-20220613-16-4qip2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468517/original/file-20220613-16-4qip2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468517/original/file-20220613-16-4qip2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468517/original/file-20220613-16-4qip2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468517/original/file-20220613-16-4qip2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468517/original/file-20220613-16-4qip2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468517/original/file-20220613-16-4qip2p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Police navigate the Itaquai River during the search for British journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous affairs expert Bruno Araujo Pereira in the Indigenous territory of the Javari Valley in Atalaia do Norte, Amazonas state, Brazil, on June 10, 2022. Phillips and Pereira were last seen on June 5.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Edmar Barros)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The number of deaths of people involved in environmental and territorial defence may be greatly underestimated, as data are not available and transparent for all countries.</p>
<h2>Women and children, the main victims of deforestation</h2>
<p>A recent <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/ClimateChange/COP21.pdf">United Nations report</a> reveals a strong correlation between worsening climate change and deteriorating human rights around the world.</p>
<p>Deforestation disproportionately affects <a href="https://www.fern.org/publications-insight/forest-loss-affects-women-and-children-disproportionally-1966/">Indigenous communities</a>, especially women and children. It increases the pressure already placed on women to feed their children and families, while limiting their access to essential goods, including medicine. </p>
<p>Indeed, the health of these communities depends on access to natural medicinal products found in biodiversity. The Amazon is a major reservoir of substances used in the manufacture of several pharmaceutical products available on the South American continent. </p>
<p><a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/53/6/573/224740">Nearly 80 per cent of the population</a> in developing countries relies on natural medicinal products for their primary health care. In the majority of communities, it is also women who are responsible for cultivating the land and providing transportation and water treatment.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468518/original/file-20220613-21-qpn2f7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="indigenous people on steps" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468518/original/file-20220613-21-qpn2f7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468518/original/file-20220613-21-qpn2f7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468518/original/file-20220613-21-qpn2f7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468518/original/file-20220613-21-qpn2f7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468518/original/file-20220613-21-qpn2f7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468518/original/file-20220613-21-qpn2f7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468518/original/file-20220613-21-qpn2f7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People watch police activities during the search for British journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous affairs expert Bruno Araujo Pereira. Deforestation disproportionately affects Indigenous people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Edmar Barros)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Children are equally at risk. For example, a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2018.03.002">study conducted in sub-Saharan African countries</a> shows a link between the loss of forest cover and the deterioration of health conditions of the youngest. Malnutrition, caused by reduced availability of fruits, vegetables and nuts, can affect children’s growth. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-environment-wildfire-who-idUSKCN1VK1FM">The exposure to smoke</a> from the multiple fires in the Amazon is also likely to cause respiratory problems and even more serious conditions in children.</p>
<h2>More farming, more deforestation</h2>
<p>Deforestation in Brazil offers a preview of the impact that climate change will have on human rights, both in Latin America and elsewhere in the world. In addition, due to the war in Ukraine, Brazil is looking to <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2022/04/30/can-brazil-help-with-food-shortages-around-the-world">fill the food gap</a> on world markets with crops such as wheat and grain.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-05-04/world-will-face-a-food-crisis-says-brazilian-minister">Brazil’s contribution</a> is appreciated by countries such as <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2022/sc14894.doc.htm">Sudan, Pakistan and Haiti</a>, which are among those most affected by the food crisis. But increased production may dangerously accelerate deforestation and human rights abuses can be expected to increase.</p>
<p>One thing is certain, one of the lungs of our planet is seriously ill and time is running out.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185085/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Félix Bhérer-Magnan ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>The deforestation of the Amazon in Brazil is at its peak, with 2022 breaking all records. Deforestation threatens human rights.Félix Bhérer-Magnan, Étudiant au doctorat en science politique, Université LavalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1843122022-06-10T03:21:24Z2022-06-10T03:21:24ZEdtech is treating students like products. Here’s how we can protect children’s digital rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467352/original/file-20220607-12-won02o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C57%2C5499%2C3606&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Schools’ use of educational technologies (edtech) grew exponentially at the height of COVID lockdowns. A recent <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/05/25/how-dare-they-peep-my-private-life/childrens-rights-violations-governments">Human Rights Watch (HRW) report</a> has exposed children’s rights violations by providers of edtech endorsed by governments in Australia and overseas. </p>
<p>The lockdowns have ended but edtech remains embedded in education. Children will have to navigate issues of data privacy in their learning and other activities.</p>
<p>So what can Australian governments and schools do to protect students? Both can take steps to ensure children’s digital rights are enabled and protected.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/childrens-privacy-is-at-risk-with-rapid-shifts-to-online-schooling-under-coronavirus-135787">Children's privacy is at risk with rapid shifts to online schooling under coronavirus</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What problems did the report expose?</h2>
<p>HRW reviewed 164 edtech products, including ten of the many apps and websites used in Australian schools. According to its report, New South Wales and Victorian education departments endorsed the use of six of these, including Zoom, Minecraft Education and Microsoft Teams. </p>
<p>The review found that, to varying degrees, these apps and websites harvested children’s personal, location or learning data to monitor, track or profile students. These practices ultimately violated children’s digital rights to privacy. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1529439735990607877"}"></div></p>
<p>The use and commodification of data associated with our online activities may not seem particularly alarming. It is, after all, a transaction we routinely make. Yet, for children, rights to privacy and to <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/crc/general-comments">protection from corporations</a> that seek to maximise profits rather than act in the best interests of the child are fundamental. </p>
<p>Edtech commodifies children when their personal data is made available to the advertising technology industry, as the HRW report shows. When a child uses an app or website for learning, the resulting data can be collected, monitored, tracked, profiled and traded in data economies. These practices are intentionally opaque and highly profitable for technology corporations. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-proposed-privacy-code-promises-tough-rules-and-10-million-penalties-for-tech-giants-170711">A new proposed privacy code promises tough rules and $10 million penalties for tech giants</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A further complication is that schools choose digital technologies on behalf of children and their families. Students often do not have a genuine choice when required to use apps and websites endorsed by schools or education departments. This means children do not have the agency to make informed decisions about their online learning.</p>
<h2>What can the government do?</h2>
<p>Australian law can be improved to better protect children’s privacy. </p>
<p>In 2019, the then Coalition government announced a <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/integrity/consultations/review-privacy-act-1988">review</a> of the Australian Privacy Act 1988, with submissions closing in January this year. The act predates the development of the world wide web. It needs to be strengthened to account for personal data and data-driven economies. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1453211703441690627"}"></div></p>
<p>The new Labor government should commit to continuing this important work. It should also develop a legislated Australian Children’s Code setting out principles governing the management of children’s data. The code to protect their digital rights must be enforceable and resourced. </p>
<p>Countries such as the UK (<a href="https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/the-children-s-code-what-is-it/">Age-Appropriate Design Code in the UK</a>) and Ireland (<a href="https://www.dataprotection.ie/en/dpc-guidance/fundamentals-child-oriented-approach-data-processing">Fundamentals for a Child-Oriented Approach to Data Processing</a>) have already adopted such codes. These require online services to follow a set of standards when using children’s data.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/apps-that-help-parents-protect-kids-from-cybercrime-may-be-unsafe-too-156583">Apps that help parents protect kids from cybercrime may be unsafe too</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What can the education system do?</h2>
<p>Without legislation to protect children’s privacy, schools and education departments can still enable children’s rights to privacy. They can do so through considered selection of educational technologies and through everyday school practices and curriculum.</p>
<p>Education departments can draw on international standards, such as the UK Children’s Code, to:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>inform technology procurement practices</p></li>
<li><p>better consider privacy risks when assessing educational technologies</p></li>
<li><p>develop policy and guidelines to support schools’ decision-making. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>There will always be a need for schools and teachers to make critical decisions about which apps and websites they bring into the classroom. This is not to promote a “use it” or “do not use it” position. Rather, informed guidelines would support school assessments of risks and help develop practices that uphold children’s digital rights.</p>
<p>Assessing the risks is difficult due to the intentionally opaque designs of digital technologies. The development of assessments, policy and guidelines at a department level is necessary to support teachers to integrate edtech in ways that protect children’s privacy. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, there are some practical steps teachers and families can take. Examples include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>consider the purpose and advantage of using the chosen educational technology</p></li>
<li><p>access privacy reviews through organisations like <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/">Common Sense Media</a></p></li>
<li><p>review the privacy policy of each app or website, paying attention to what data it collects, for what purpose, and who the data are shared with (although these aren’t always clear or accurate, as the HRW report shows)</p></li>
<li><p>review privacy settings on apps</p></li>
<li><p>check websites using a privacy tool like <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/09/25/privacy-check-blacklight/">Blacklight</a>, used in the HRW review.</p></li>
</ul>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1488383206650961920"}"></div></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-an-age-of-elsa-spider-man-romantic-mash-ups-how-to-monitor-youtubes-childrens-content-123088">In an age of Elsa/Spider-Man romantic mash ups, how to monitor YouTube's children's content?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Education can also empower children to make informed choices about their data and privacy.</p>
<p>Current Australian school programs focus on digital safety and well-being. They aim to help students understand interpersonal online risks and harms. Examples of this approach are the newly revised Australian Curriculum’s <a href="https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/teacher-resources/understand-this-general-capability/digital-literacy">digital literacy capability</a> and the new Labor government’s promise of an <a href="https://www.alp.org.au/policies/safe-kids-are-esmart-kids">eSmart Digital Licence+</a>. </p>
<p>While understanding interpersonal online risks and harms are crucial for children’s well-being, this focus overlooks risks associated with the commodification of personal data. To enable children’s digital rights they must be given opportunities to understand and critically engage with digital economies, datafication and the associated impacts on their lives.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1532607766728146945"}"></div></p>
<h2>We’re still catching up to edtech</h2>
<p>The HRW report has shone a spotlight on children’s right to digital and data privacy in schools. However, its findings may be just the tip of the iceberg in a largely unregulated industry. The report covered only a small proportion of the educational technologies being used in Australian schools. </p>
<p>Children have the right to engage with digital environments for learning and play, and to develop their autonomy and identity, without compromising their privacy. </p>
<p>The Australian government has the power to create laws to protect children’s digital rights. Together with education that empowers teachers and children to make informed decisions, these rights can be much better protected.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184312/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tiffani Apps receives funding from Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karley Beckman receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah K. Howard receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>The fast-growing educational technology industry is poorly regulated and profits from user data. Australian law, education departments and schools can all do more to improve safeguards for children.Tiffani Apps, Senior Lecturer in Digital Technologies for Learning, University of WollongongKarley Beckman, Senior Lecturer in Digital Technologies for Learning, University of WollongongSarah K. Howard, Associate Professor, Digital Technologies in Education, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1820572022-05-06T00:37:37Z2022-05-06T00:37:37Z‘A human being, not just mum’: the women’s liberationists who fought for the rights of mothers and children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461199/original/file-20220504-26-q3xh4g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C0%2C5903%2C3977&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and courtesy SEARCH Foundation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mother’s Day has long been exploited for commercial and political gain. This year, again, my inbox is filled with gift ideas to “make mum smile”. With the federal election looming, we can expect candidates to make the most of this weekend to demonstrate their pro-family credentials.</p>
<p>But advertisers and politicians are not the only ones with a stake in Mother’s Day. The day’s origins lie in feminist campaigns in the late 19th and early 20th century to promote <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-13/history-of-mothers-day-from-civil-war-to-family-reunions/8517898">peace and greater recognition</a> of women’s social and economic contribution as mothers.</p>
<p>For subsequent generations of feminists, it has proven to be a site of contest. This was especially so in the 1970s, when women’s liberationists set out to challenge prevailing expectations of female domesticity. </p>
<p>In their view, the dominant model of the male breadwinner and female homemaker was a leading source of women’s oppression. Many felt Mother’s Day only reinforced the problem.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461201/original/file-20220504-19-v463my.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Protest sign reads: If motherhood is so satisfying let the men have a turn." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461201/original/file-20220504-19-v463my.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461201/original/file-20220504-19-v463my.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461201/original/file-20220504-19-v463my.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461201/original/file-20220504-19-v463my.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461201/original/file-20220504-19-v463my.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461201/original/file-20220504-19-v463my.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461201/original/file-20220504-19-v463my.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women protested against the notion ‘motherhood’ was always women’s work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and courtesy SEARCH Foundation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A pamphlet issued by Adelaide women’s liberationists in 1971 claimed Mother’s Day was little more than an exercise in hypocrisy. </p>
<p>For one day, the pamphlet asserted, society paid lip service to women’s “martyrdom” in the home. For the rest of the year, their domestic labour remained invisible and their “basic needs” were left unmet – including for some independence from their children. </p>
<p>But it is worth noting women’s liberationists argued the “cult” of domesticity not only had dire consequences for women, but for children too. On this Mother’s Day, it bears remembering activists were committed to their joint liberation.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-give-mum-chocolates-for-mothers-day-take-on-more-housework-share-the-mental-load-and-advocate-for-equality-instead-182330">Don't give mum chocolates for Mother's Day. Take on more housework, share the mental load and advocate for equality instead</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Liberation for children</h2>
<p>This vision was put forward most explicitly in North American radical feminist Shulamith Firestone’s bestseller, <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/1853-the-dialectic-of-sex">The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution</a> (1970).</p>
<p>The book is now best known for its forthright critique of maternity: Firestone went so far as to describe pregnancy as “barbaric” and advocated for artificial reproduction in its place.</p>
<p>But The Dialectic of Sex was also noteworthy for Firestone’s analysis of <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/04/15/death-of-a-revolutionary">children’s status in the nuclear family</a> and the power parents wielded over them. Mothers played a particularly insidious role, Firestone argued, in the psychological formation of children, determining “what they become as adults and the sorts of relationships they are able to form”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/shulamith-firestone-why-the-radical-feminist-who-wanted-to-abolish-pregnancy-remains-relevant-115730">Shulamith Firestone: why the radical feminist who wanted to abolish pregnancy remains relevant</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Firestone’s views on the subject were far from exceptional. Indeed, the concept of children’s liberation reverberated through a wide range of feminist texts of the period. </p>
<p>And as I discovered when I started <a href="https://www.mup.com.au/books/feminism-and-the-making-of-a-child-rights-revolution-paperback-softback">looking for evidence</a> of the concept’s impact in Australia, it was also put into practice in diverse ways.</p>
<p>For feminist mothers in the 1970s, access to affordable childcare services was an especially high priority – not only to enable their equal participation in public life, but because of its benefits for children’s social development and connection beyond the nuclear family. </p>
<p>This sentiment was best captured in the slogan used at protest marches: “Free Mum, Free Dad, Free Me, Free Child Care”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461123/original/file-20220503-14-mhvgtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3389%2C2326&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Partially obscured banner reads 'mum, free dad, child care'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461123/original/file-20220503-14-mhvgtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3389%2C2326&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461123/original/file-20220503-14-mhvgtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461123/original/file-20220503-14-mhvgtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461123/original/file-20220503-14-mhvgtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461123/original/file-20220503-14-mhvgtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461123/original/file-20220503-14-mhvgtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461123/original/file-20220503-14-mhvgtd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The rights of mothers, fathers and children were explicitly linked.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and courtesy SEARCH Foundation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many feminist teachers and mothers were attracted to new approaches that <a href="https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n5524/html/ch03.xhtml?referer=&page=6#">emphasised</a> children’s autonomy and self-direction. These principles also informed broader decisions about childrearing, such as mothers’ selections of books, toys and clothing, and their attempts to be more open and frank when addressing their children’s questions about sexuality.</p>
<p>When they could not find readily available alternatives, one Melbourne group even began producing their own resources. In 1974, they formed the <a href="https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n5524/html/ch07.xhtml?referer=&page=11">Women’s Movement Children’s Literature Cooperative</a>. Their first book, <a href="https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/librarycollections/2015/10/05/sugar-and-spice-and-all-things-nice/">The Witch of Grange Grove</a>, was typical in featuring characters who disregarded gender stereotypes and pursued their own interests.</p>
<p>By the mid-1970s, the issue of violence within the family home had become pressing. Children comprised more than half of the residents at women’s refuges, such as <a href="https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/forty_years_of_the_elsie_refuge_for_women_and_children">Elsie</a> in Sydney. Along with physical and emotional abuse, child sexual abuse – particularly by male relatives – was one of the issues that refuge workers, along with activists at rape crisis services, frequently confronted.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461202/original/file-20220504-27-kytr1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Women outside a ramshackle house" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461202/original/file-20220504-27-kytr1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461202/original/file-20220504-27-kytr1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461202/original/file-20220504-27-kytr1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461202/original/file-20220504-27-kytr1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461202/original/file-20220504-27-kytr1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=758&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461202/original/file-20220504-27-kytr1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=758&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461202/original/file-20220504-27-kytr1a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=758&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Elsie Women’s Refuge, Glebe, 1975 – half of the residents of refuges like this were children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">National Archives of Australia: A6135, K2/6/75/2</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/damned-whores-and-gods-police-is-still-relevant-to-australia-40-years-on-mores-the-pity-47753">Damned Whores and God’s Police is still relevant to Australia 40 years on – more's the pity</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The forgotten revolution</h2>
<p>For many feminists of the era, women’s and children’s liberation were inseparable. </p>
<p>This was certainly true for the Adelaide activists protesting Mother’s Day in 1971. As their pamphlet had it, for both their own sake and so as not to “suffocate” their children, women must “renounce [their] martyrdom” and redefine themselves as “a human being […] not just ‘mum’”.</p>
<p>But this message was often lost on women’s liberation’s <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1031461X.2021.1941148">opponents</a>, who were intent on casting the movement as “anti-mother” and “anti-child” – a stereotype of this era that has persevered.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child in a protest holds a sign reading 'free 24 hour childcare'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461198/original/file-20220504-665-at00lu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461198/original/file-20220504-665-at00lu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461198/original/file-20220504-665-at00lu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461198/original/file-20220504-665-at00lu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461198/original/file-20220504-665-at00lu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461198/original/file-20220504-665-at00lu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461198/original/file-20220504-665-at00lu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">While the movement was often painted as ‘anti-mothers’, women campaigned for mother’s rights, like the right to childcare.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and courtesy SEARCH Foundation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.outskirts.arts.uwa.edu.au/volumes/volume-28/isobelle-barrett-meyering">Internal tensions</a> within women’s liberation have also shaped feminist and popular memory of this period. While many involved in the movement worked hard to improve the conditions of mothers and their children, not everyone felt these efforts went far enough. </p>
<p>Some women were alienated by the staunch critiques of motherhood, or felt judged by those who did not have children. And although women’s liberation attracted participants from diverse backgrounds, many First Nations and migrant women chose to organise in groups outside it, in part due to a perception that their experiences of motherhood required different political remedies.</p>
<p>The relationship between 1970s feminism and maternity was at times a fraught one. But we should not forget that this ambivalence about motherhood could also be productive, creating space for new ways of thinking not just about women, but children too.</p>
<p>We continue to grapple with many of the same issues, from childcare and gender socialisation to child abuse and family violence. </p>
<p>In seeking lasting solutions to these problems, it is worth remembering there is a longer history of feminist activism that might inform our contemporary approaches – not least of all when it comes to responding to the predictable cliches that surface each year on Mother’s Day.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182057/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Isobelle Barrett Meyering does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Feminists in the 1970s knew the liberation of women and children was inextricably linked.Isobelle Barrett Meyering, Research fellow, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1791312022-03-20T11:43:23Z2022-03-20T11:43:23ZFamily separations in Ukraine highlight the importance of children’s rights<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452815/original/file-20220317-13-hgtosn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C0%2C5000%2C3285&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A 41-year-old man presses his palms against the window of a train as he says goodbye to his five-year-old daughter as she leaves for Lviv at the Kyiv station on March 4, 2022. He was staying behind to fight Russian forces.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/family-separations-in-ukraine-highlight-the-importance-of-children-s-rights" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Given the conscription of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/mar/09/ukraine-urged-to-take-humane-approach-as-men-try-to-flee-war">men aged 18 to 60 in Ukraine</a>, the majority of Ukrainians fleeing into neighbouring countries are <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukraine-situation-unhcr-supplementary-appeal-2022">women and children</a>. </p>
<p>Most adult men and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/03/09/disabled-ukrainians-desperate-plea/">many disabled</a> and <a href="https://www.helpage.org/newsroom/latest-news/ukraine-older-people-face-abandonment-and-isolation-as-conflict-with-russia-intensifies/">older people have been left behind</a>. The resulting family separation poses legal and social challenges that need to be addressed in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00220380902862952">gender- and age-sensitive ways</a>.</p>
<p>Unaccompanied and separated children require <a href="https://www.unicef.org/ukraine/en/press-releases/unaccompanied-and-separated-children-fleeing-escalating-conflict-ukraine-must-be">specific protection and care</a> because of their developing capacities to care for themselves and <a href="https://www.fmreview.org/young-and-out-of-place/clarkkazak">intergenerational power hierarchies</a>. That means that most of the time, adults control resources and decision-making, while children have fewer opportunities to advocate for their own choices, well-being and rights.</p>
<p>As the number of children who flee without their families increases, it’s not clear <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/mar/12/children-going-missing-amid-chaos-at-ukraine-border-report-aid-groups-refugees">whether there’s local capacity to respond effectively and appropriately</a>. Even before the Ukraine war, lone refugee youth who arrived in the United Kingdom without family were living unsupervised in hotels and disappearing <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/child-refugees-missing-hotels-home-office-uk-b1974945.html">at a rate of one per week</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1500682721840046081"}"></div></p>
<h2>‘Best interests principle’</h2>
<p>The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child — <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CRC&Lang=en">the most widely ratified human rights treaty in the world</a> — requires that all decisions affecting children are guided by what’s known as the <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-my/4ba09bb59.pdf">best interests principle</a>. </p>
<p>This principle is especially important in cases involving separated children, as well as the evacuation of children in institutional care, such as those in hospitals, prisons or orphanages. In fact, Canada has paused <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/new-child-adoptions-between-canada-ukraine-on-hold-due-to-war-1.5817483">all adoptions from Ukraine</a> in <a href="https://www.unicef.org/media/intercountry-adoption">line with international guidelines, law and practice</a>. </p>
<p>These safeguards are put in place so that children are not inadvertently taken away from their families when their identities cannot be verified or when their parents’ whereabouts are unknown.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A row of babies swaddled in blankets in a crib, one crying." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452826/original/file-20220317-17-1fpr8y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452826/original/file-20220317-17-1fpr8y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452826/original/file-20220317-17-1fpr8y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452826/original/file-20220317-17-1fpr8y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452826/original/file-20220317-17-1fpr8y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452826/original/file-20220317-17-1fpr8y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452826/original/file-20220317-17-1fpr8y2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Premature babies who were left behind by their parents lie in a bed in a hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 15, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Critiques of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17504902.2018.1428784">the German kindertransport</a>, for example — an effort to rescue children from Nazi-controlled territory in the months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War — show how some Jewish children, although saved from persecution by the Nazis, were also in most cases permanently separated from their parents and their Jewish identities. </p>
<p>Given the scale and speed of Ukrainian forced migration, adults making decisions on behalf of separated children and those in care should look to the lessons of the past when focusing on the best interests of children. </p>
<p>For example, the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ukrainian-children-with-cancer-to-be-flown-to-toronto-hospital-for/">recent announcement</a> of evacuation of children with cancer to Sick Children’s Hospital in Toronto includes provisions for family members to accompany them.</p>
<h2>Temporary protection</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/pandemic-border/ukraine-refugee-asylum-europe-temporary-protection/">European countries</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-canadas-welcome-to-fleeing-ukrainians-a-new-era-of-refugee-policy-178501">and Canada</a> are offering temporary protection, rather than permanent refugee status. </p>
<p>Under the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2022/03/canada-launches-new-temporary-residence-pathway-to-welcome-those-fleeing-the-war-in-ukraine.html">newly announced Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel</a>, Ukrainians and their immediate family members of any nationality are permitted to stay in Canada as temporary residents for up to three years via a three-year open work permit.</p>
<p>But temporary protection offers fewer formal resettlement and integration structures. Reliance on informal networks can result in exploitation and, in extreme cases, forced prostitution and other forms of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/berlin-warns-ukrainian-refugees-about-trafficking-danger-2022-03-14/">human trafficking</a>. </p>
<p>In particular, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-expecting-thousands-of-ukrainian-refugees-1.6382019">lack of affordable housing or designated shelters</a> can result in people accepting rooms in private homes without a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ukraine-refugees-modern-slavery-exploitation-sponsorship-uk-b2035384.html">proper vetting process or ongoing oversight</a>. </p>
<p>Due to this extreme dependency on others’ hospitality, the private sphere of domestic spaces and unequal gender and age power relations, displaced children, young people and women may be at higher risk of <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/man-allegedly-rapes-ukrainian-refugee-poland-exploitation-fears-grow-1687468?amp=1">sexual violence</a> or unwaged domestic work.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-pay-attention-to-the-experiences-of-children-in-ukraine-during-the-russian-invasion-178772">We need to pay attention to the experiences of children in Ukraine during the Russian invasion</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Legal challenges</h2>
<p>As the violence continues and displacement increases in scope and duration, secondary and tertiary migration is taking place, within Europe and to other regions, including to the United States and Canada. </p>
<p>This causes particular legal and immigration challenges, especially for families helmed by women whose male partners are prohibited from leaving Ukraine. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two women carry a baby each, one in a bright pink snowsuit and the other in a pale blue patterended snow suit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452804/original/file-20220317-17-1wfdzht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C8482%2C5637&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452804/original/file-20220317-17-1wfdzht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452804/original/file-20220317-17-1wfdzht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452804/original/file-20220317-17-1wfdzht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452804/original/file-20220317-17-1wfdzht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452804/original/file-20220317-17-1wfdzht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452804/original/file-20220317-17-1wfdzht.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women carry children after crossing the border from Ukraine in Medyka, Poland, on March 9, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Daniel Cole)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.cic.gc.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=1022&top=16">Canadian immigration officials</a> may require a parent travelling with minor children without their spouse to present a copy of the child’s birth certificate, a letter of authorization from the other parent and a photocopy of the non-accompanying parent’s passport or national identification card.</p>
<p>Such documentation requirements are in accordance with the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/he/9780198806691.003.0021">1996 Hague Convention on the Protection of Children</a>, aimed at protecting children against cross-border abduction in cases of custody disputes. However, because people fled quickly from Ukraine and because some men who have been conscripted may have died or moved with military units, these documents may not be easy to obtain. </p>
<p>As a result, women and their children could be “stuck” in the first country of asylum, even if they have extended family support in other countries.</p>
<h2>Mental health impacts</h2>
<p>Research shows that long-term family separation has severe impacts for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867420967427">mental health</a>. Children and young people, especially girls and older siblings, in single-parent households often take on additional child care, household and paid labour to <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/520183">support their families</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452819/original/file-20220317-15-17yr88b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An elderly woman is coated in snow as she sits in a wheelchair under a pink blanket." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452819/original/file-20220317-15-17yr88b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452819/original/file-20220317-15-17yr88b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452819/original/file-20220317-15-17yr88b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452819/original/file-20220317-15-17yr88b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452819/original/file-20220317-15-17yr88b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452819/original/file-20220317-15-17yr88b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452819/original/file-20220317-15-17yr88b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An elderly woman is coated in snow as she sits in a wheelchair after being evacuated from Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, on March 8, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Older people left behind in Ukraine may feel <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/elderly-disabled-unable-to-flee-ukraine-war-charities-say/6478084.html">isolated and abandoned</a>. </p>
<p>Violence and migration have different impacts <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-pay-attention-to-the-experiences-of-children-in-ukraine-during-the-russian-invasion-178772">due to age</a>, family status and gender. Policies and programs to address conflict-induced displacement in Ukraine must explicitly take into account the rights of children, including the best interests of the child. They also need to be attentive to gender and family relationships.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179131/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christina Clark-Kazak receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>Policies and programs to address war-induced displacement in Ukraine must explicitly take into account the rights of children, including the best interests of the child.Christina Clark-Kazak, Associate Professor, Public and International Affairs, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1773562022-02-28T02:58:15Z2022-02-28T02:58:15ZWhat are the rights of children at the parliament protest – and who protects them?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/448471/original/file-20220225-3647-1yp2eno.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C0%2C6211%2C4147&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GettyImages</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Children have participated in protests against nuclear weapons, wars, the loss of Māori land and customary rights, racism and child poverty. Young people themselves led the <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/440122/students-take-to-streets-for-school-strike-4-climate-protest">School Strike 4 Climate</a> marches. </p>
<p>But the continuing presence of children at the sometimes violent occupation of parliament grounds has concerned many, from <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/covid-19-omicron-parliament-protest-police-seriously-concerned-for-children/VB2ASZDGZ4WSGSS7ZGDN57F2EE/">police</a> to the <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/127764002/protest-at-parliament-looks-imported-jacinda-ardern-says-questions-the-motivations-of-those-involved">prime minister</a> and <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/childrens-commissioner-says-occupation-bound-to-have-impact-on-kids/PCB2LZNM6I5ZS3MCUGN6P4HJWA/">children’s commissioner</a>.</p>
<p>So the question now becomes, should children even be allowed to participate in such events? Those who answer “no” may argue children (especially younger ones) cannot understand the nature of the debate, are being manipulated by adults, and are physically and emotionally vulnerable.</p>
<p>Others might argue young people’s voices should be heard, and that children are capable of grasping the meaning of protest action. And even if young people don’t understand an issue, it could be argued some adults should be prevented from protesting on the same basis.</p>
<p>An alternative view is that children have been, and will continue to be, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55863841">heavily affected</a> by pandemic restrictions and lockdowns. For that reason, they have a vested interest in being able to exercise their rights to gather and protest peacefully.</p>
<p>But with children potentially caught up in the less peaceful side of the parliament protest, it’s imperative they and their rights are understood and protected.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1497077271995162628"}"></div></p>
<h2>What does the law say?</h2>
<p>Children, like adults, have the rights to freedom of movement, association and peaceful assembly – rights that underpin the right to (peaceful) protest. These rights are protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ensuing framework of human rights treaties, including the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx">UN Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>. </p>
<p>Whether they are exercised by adults or children, these rights aren’t absolute and can be limited. According to the international legal framework of human rights, however, such limitations must be based in law and in the interests of a democratic society. Restrictions can be imposed for reasons such as public safety, public order, or the protection of public health. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-wellington-protest-is-testing-police-independence-and-public-tolerance-are-there-lessons-from-canadas-crackdown-177523">The Wellington protest is testing police independence and public tolerance – are there lessons from Canada’s crackdown?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But there are other balancing acts when it comes to children’s rights, including their right to protest. The Convention on the Rights of the Child says the best interests of the child, and their right to have their opinions heard, should guide decision-making where children are involved.</p>
<p>In Aotearoa New Zealand, the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1990/0109/latest/DLM224792.html">New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990</a> guarantees the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, subject to the same <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1981/0113/latest/whole.html#DLM53507">reasonable</a> limits that exist in international law. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1495918288177889280"}"></div></p>
<h2>Who is responsible for child protesters?</h2>
<p>Young protesters are at greater risk from harm than adults because they are physically smaller and therefore generally more vulnerable.</p>
<p>So the issue of who is responsible for the safety of children within the protest at parliament raises a number of <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/wellington-top-stories/127834550/how-the-presence-of-children-at-the-parliament-occupation-complicates-everything">complicated questions</a> for the government, police, parents – and, of course, the young people themselves. </p>
<p>There are no clear answers in this type of situation. </p>
<p>The Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises, among other things, that parents have the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of their children, and that children must be protected from violence. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-protect-children-during-aotearoas-omicron-outbreak-we-need-to-consider-their-families-not-just-schools-176458">To protect children during Aotearoa's Omicron outbreak, we need to consider their families, not just schools</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>New Zealand’s <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2004/0090/latest/DLM317233.html">Care of Children Act 2004</a> states that the welfare and best interests of a child must be the first and paramount consideration. Children must be protected from all forms of violence, and the primary responsibility for their care lies with their parents.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1989/0024/latest/DLM147088.html">Oranga Tamariki Act 1989</a> promotes the well-being and protection from harm of children and young people, and Oranga Tamariki itself has said it was <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/127766970/covid19-parents-explain-why-theyve-brought-children-to-antimandate-protest-in-wellington">working with police and other partners</a> to address any child protection concerns at the Wellington protest.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1496734699250724866"}"></div></p>
<h2>Challenges for police and the law</h2>
<p>Against this legal framework, the challenge (especially for the police) is how to manage a sometimes unruly crowd that contains significant numbers of children. </p>
<p>This has undoubtedly already influenced the police’s response, and the fate of the protest in general hinges to some extent on guarding the children’s best interests and well-being and ensuring they are protected from harm. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-occupation-of-nzs-parliament-grounds-is-a-tactical-challenge-for-police-but-mass-arrests-are-not-an-option-177054">The occupation of NZ’s parliament grounds is a tactical challenge for police, but mass arrests are not an option</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Failure to do this could mean the children at parliament grounds could be injured, and their rights to protest and to be protected from violence undermined. </p>
<p>Beyond these immediate concerns, though, the presence of children at parliament grounds should remind us again of the impact the pandemic in general has had on the <a href="https://ojs.victoria.ac.nz/pq/article/view/6557/5721">hopes and dreams</a> of young people.</p>
<p>These protests will eventually end, but ensuring the voices of children and young people are heard must be part of efforts to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic in the months and years to come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177356/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Breen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The prime minister and police have asked that children be removed from the protest at parliament – but the situation is legally and logistically complex.Claire Breen, Professor of Law, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1760392022-02-24T02:48:14Z2022-02-24T02:48:14ZAbout 43,000 Australian kids have a parent in jail but there is no formal system to support them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447683/original/file-20220222-15803-4bevq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Miller/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Australia, on any given day, <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/insight/video/how-australia-is-failing-prisoners-kids/sxuc3dm4k">about 43,000</a> children have a parent in prison. </p>
<p>We have to use the word “about”, as there is no official process to identify this group of children. There is no specific oversight and no <a href="http://www.flatout.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Discussion_Paper_Hannon.pdf">special supports</a>. Despite the state removing their parent, there is no government department responsible for them. </p>
<p>A new parliamentary inquiry has been set to try and fix this. It cannot come soon enough.</p>
<h2>Parents in prison</h2>
<p>Researchers estimate around half of the adults who end up in prison are parents. So when an adult is arrested and imprisoned, there is a good chance they are somebody’s parent.</p>
<p>A Victorian parliamentary inquiry into children of imprisoned parents was announced just before Christmas last year, after lobbying by <a href="https://rodbarton.com.au/issues/inquiry-into-children-of-imprisoned-parents/">independent MP Rod Barton</a>. The report is due by July 2022.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Row of children's toy buggies lined up against a wall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447684/original/file-20220222-15-1lfnvqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447684/original/file-20220222-15-1lfnvqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447684/original/file-20220222-15-1lfnvqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447684/original/file-20220222-15-1lfnvqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447684/original/file-20220222-15-1lfnvqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447684/original/file-20220222-15-1lfnvqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447684/original/file-20220222-15-1lfnvqx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An inquiry into the children of imprisoned parents is due to report in the middle of the year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brendan Esposito/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are some things we already know about children who have a parent in jail. Our <a href="https://shineforkids.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/COVID-19_PrisonVisiting_October2020.pdf">recent research</a>into restricted family contact during COVID found children’s mental health suffered considerably as a result of separation from a parent.</p>
<p>We also know they face <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324228844_Using_Linked_Data_to_Investigate_Developmental_Vulnerabilities_in_Children_of_Convicted_Parents">immediate risks</a> due to the loss of their parent at arrest or imprisonment, such as homelessness, or feelings of abandonment. They are more likely to suffer long-term issues, including poorer health and educational outcomes and increased behavioural and emotional problems. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/staff-and-children-in-preschool-and-childcare-arent-being-protected-like-in-schools-we-need-a-national-plan-175658">Staff and children in preschool and childcare aren't being protected like in schools. We need a national plan</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We also know that a parent <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/2e92f007-453d-48a1-9c6b-4c9531cf0371/aihw-phe-246.pdf.aspx?inline=true">who goes to jail</a> is more likely to have experienced their own childhood trauma, been involved in family violence, and have higher levels of mental health problems, substance abuse, and disability. </p>
<p>Combined with family separation, these can have an indelible impact on their children. Living with poverty, stress and instability, alongside stigma and a lack of community understanding and support are common occurrences.</p>
<h2>Children ignored</h2>
<p>In 2015 <a href="https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/report/ARC_MonashCJRC_The_Impact_of_Incarceration_on_Children_s_Care_A_Strategic_Framework_for_Good_Care_Planning_2015_pdf/16576895">research</a> with colleagues, we looked at existing policies around arrest, sentencing and imprisonment, and spoke with parents in prison, as well as police, magistrates and legal representatives. </p>
<p>It was clear that children are not taken into account by the adult justice system, from the time of their parent’s arrest, through to their release from prison. There are no processes or protocols to consider or support children, and professional staff are not guided or obliged to respond. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/at-least-100-000-children-have-a-parent-who-is-arrested-each-year-there-are-no-proper-systems-to-protect-them-140872">At least 100,000 children have a parent who is arrested each year. There are no proper systems to protect them.</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Most children are cared for <a href="https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/report/ARC_MonashCJRC_The_Impact_of_Incarceration_on_Children_s_Care_A_Strategic_Framework_for_Good_Care_Planning_2015_pdf/16576895%5D">informally</a>, within their nuclear or extended families. These carers carry many <a href="https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/presentation/The_cost_of_caring_uncovering_the_costs_for_grandparents_raising_grandchildren_with_incarcerated_parents/19106735">additional burdens and costs</a>, with no recognition or formal support.</p>
<p>So this means basic food and shelter are not guaranteed for these children at the point of parental arrest and sentencing. Although some officials <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276460568_Responding_to_the_needs_of_children_of_parents_arrested_in_Victoria_Australia_The_role_of_the_adult_criminal_justice_system">go far beyond</a> their prescribed role to ensure the well-being of children, this is haphazard at best. As one police officer told us during a recent study: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>there’s no notice up in the custody area ‘does your offender have children?’. The question remains, why not? </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Decades of warning</h2>
<p>For more than 20 years, <a href="https://bridges.monash.edu/articles/report/ARC_MonashCJRC_The_Impact_of_Incarceration_on_Children_s_Care_A_Strategic_Framework_for_Good_Care_Planning_2015_pdf/16576895">researchers</a> have been calling for governments to identify and meet the needs of these children and families. These calls have been echoed by a 1997 <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/lcdocs/inquiries/2005/Compiled%20report.pdf">NSW parliamentary committee</a> and a 2005 <a href="https://apps.aifs.gov.au/cfcaregister/projects/1150">report to</a> the South Australian attorney-general’s department.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Child holding the hand of an adult." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447687/original/file-20220222-28468-ohzdou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/447687/original/file-20220222-28468-ohzdou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447687/original/file-20220222-28468-ohzdou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447687/original/file-20220222-28468-ohzdou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447687/original/file-20220222-28468-ohzdou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447687/original/file-20220222-28468-ohzdou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/447687/original/file-20220222-28468-ohzdou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most children with a parent in prison are cared for informally by a family member.great.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joe Castro/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/inquiries/Pages/inquiry-details.aspx?pk=2572#tab-termsofreference">NSW parliamentary inquiry</a> has been underway since 2019, with the final report due soon.</p>
<p>Yet, nothing has changed. </p>
<p>We have seen positive moves in other service sectors (such as mental health, alcohol and drug services and family violence) towards a more “child aware” approach. This begins with a basic recognition that adult service users are often parents, and their dependent children are indirectly part of that adult service system. The next steps have been to <a href="https://www.copmi.net.au/professionals-organisations/how-can-i-help/professional-development">educate staff</a>in those services about “seeing” and including their needs in their work. </p>
<p>In other countries, including the <a href="https://www.theiacp.org/resources/safeguarding-children-of-arrested-parents-toolkit">United States</a>, England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Sweden and Norway there have been innovations during arrests and in prisons. For example, in Sweden, when arrested, people are asked about any child or care arrangements. This provides children with a basic minimum standard of care at a time when they need it most. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Australia’s criminal justice sector is lagging behind, despite repeated warnings. We need to catch up.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176039/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Flynn has previously received funding from the Australian Research Council, the Victorian Department of Justice, and not-for-profit organisation SHINE for Kids, for research in the area of criminal justice, prisons and family impact.</span></em></p>Researchers estimate around half of the adults who end up in prison are parents.Catherine Flynn, Senior Lecturer, Department of Social Work, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1689362021-10-25T19:50:18Z2021-10-25T19:50:18ZIntersex children in New Zealand are routinely undergoing unnecessary surgery – that needs to change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427915/original/file-20211021-13-wticee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C23%2C5160%2C3422&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Until very recently, people with intersex variations have often been unseen, stigmatised and routinely discriminated against. <a href="https://interactadvocates.org/intersex-awareness-day/">Intersex Awareness Day</a> today (October 26) is therefore an opportunity to examine how much progress has been made and how far we still have to go.</p>
<p>It’s estimated <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/10/its-intersex-awareness-day-here-are-5-myths-we-need-to-shatter/">1.7 to 4%</a> of people globally are intersex – meaning they don’t fit within typical female or male norms. </p>
<p>In particular, the rights of children with intersex variations are coming under scrutiny. </p>
<p>With surgery in infancy or early childhood still considered an option,
<a href="https://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2fPPRiCAqhKb7yhsrXsJ3pRx9xOCak0Ed1mLElSXcY5e%2bSYJ4cCIPH2iPOgLuEWmnttJAXCYk1WXW5fu9WagFa0bDhf72L%2fqDxeYU66nhVpJwtkgNIsCxADWOks">questions</a> are now being asked about how to ensure no child is subjected to unnecessary procedures or treatment, and that the child’s consent is obtained for necessary interventions. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1449981202698579968"}"></div></p>
<h2>Surgery can be delayed</h2>
<p>Intersex people have <a href="https://www.ogmagazine.org.au/20/4-20/intersex-variations-in-sex-characteristics/">variations in sex characteristics</a> that can occur naturally at the level of chromosomes, hormones and/or anatomy. </p>
<p>There is a wide range of variations. Hypospadias, where the urethral opening appears on the underside of the penis, is most common. Although not a health problem, surgery to alter the hypospadic appearance is “routine” in many places, including Aotearoa New Zealand.</p>
<p>The latest <a href="https://www.health.govt.nz/publication/publicly-funded-hospital-discharges-1-july-2017-30-june-2018">Ministry of Health data</a> shows that in 2017-18, 265 people aged under 15 were diagnosed with hypospadias, with 206 surgical operations performed – 85% of those operations performed on children aged under five. </p>
<p>These surgeries could be delayed until the children are older and able to give or refuse consent. There is no clear biomedical basis for such surgery, it is not lifesaving and it puts the child at risk (as surgery inevitably does). </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/surgery-to-make-intersex-children-normal-should-be-banned-76952">Surgery to make intersex children 'normal' should be banned</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While there are some <a href="https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/health/m/mixed-gonadal-dysgenesis">gonadal variations</a> (affecting the development of ovaries or testes) that can be life-threatening and require surgical treatment, few variations in sex characteristics are life-threatening in infancy. </p>
<p>Surgery on children with genital variations might appear to promote wellbeing but research highlights the harmful effects of any surgery intended to produce a more “<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31971496/">male</a>” or more “<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30272250/">female</a>” genital appearance. </p>
<p>Like their overseas counterparts, Aotearoa New Zealand <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/gender-and-society/125333190/queens-birthday-honours-intersex-advocate-mani-bruce-mitchell-on--doing-the-mahi">intersex people</a> who have spoken publicly have opposed the interventions they underwent as children.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"685022646308700161"}"></div></p>
<h2>Who gives consent?</h2>
<p>The issue of genital surgery has implications for the <a href="https://www.renews.co.nz/we-cant-forget-new-zealand-still-discriminates-against-rainbow-communities/">legal rights</a> of New Zealanders with variations in sex characteristics, including their right to <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1990/0109/latest/DLM224792.html">refuse</a> medical treatment, and the rules around informed consent. </p>
<p>The young age at which most surgeries are carried out means consent is provided by parents, who have the right and responsibility to decide on important matters affecting the child, including non-routine <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2004/0090/latest/whole.html#DLM317233">medical treatment</a>. </p>
<p>With such decisions, the best interests and welfare of the child in their particular circumstances must be the <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2004/0090/latest/DLM317240.html">paramount</a> consideration. The right to be <a href="https://www.hdc.org.nz/your-rights/about-the-code/code-of-health-and-disability-services-consumers-rights/">fully informed</a> is contained in the Code of Health and Disability Services Rights. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/choosing-childrens-sex-is-an-exercise-in-sexism-45836">Choosing children's sex is an exercise in sexism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In essence, every New Zealander has a right to an explanation of their condition and an explanation of the options available, including risks, side effects, costs and benefits of each option, and honest and accurate answers to questions, including the results of research. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.facebook.com/renewsnz/videos/168623591785700/">intersex advocates</a> in Aotearoa New Zealand argue that they and their families have been isolated from sources of information and from others in similar situations.</p>
<p>And there is the added complexity of current responses to intersex variations being <a href="https://www.hrc.co.nz/files/9615/2270/4142/HRC_Intersex_Roundtable_2017.pdf">insensitive</a> to cultural contexts, reflecting as they do binary Western constructions of gender that categorise individuals as either male or female.</p>
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<h2>International progress</h2>
<p>The issue of genital surgery is gaining traction in international law. For example, the right to be protected from <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/cat.aspx">degrading treatment</a> was extended to <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/regularsession/session22/a.hrc.22.53_english.pdf">health-care settings</a> in 2013, with the call from a UN special rapporteur for states to repeal any law allowing genital-normalising surgery when “enforced or administered without the free and informed consent of the person concerned.” </p>
<p>Overall, the <a href="http://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=4slQ6QSmlBEDzFEovLCuW1a0Szab0oXTdImnsJZZVQfQejF41Tob4CvIjeTiAP6sGFQktiae1vlbbOAekmaOwDOWsUe7N8TLm%2BP3HJPzxjHySkUoHMavD%2Fpyfcp3Ylzg">right to health</a> is violated when states fail to take steps to prevent young children from undergoing medically unnecessary, irreversible and involuntary surgery and treatment.</p>
<p>In 2016, the <a href="https://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2fPPRiCAqhKb7yhsrXsJ3pRx9xOCak0Ed1mLEkIUHtKTSHNWA9ddXmo8oiUgGuB9JUoxS6ES4ymmXawE3W7Z52o%2b4tn33VBe09mSo1Rr6ta1lLVkTxmo%2fSYUATQ">UN Committee on the Rights of the Child</a> recommended Aotearoa New Zealand develop and implement a healthcare protocol for intersex children, based on children’s rights, setting the procedures and steps to be followed by health teams. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-the-binary-how-teaching-children-about-gender-could-help-reduce-sexism-113140">Beyond the binary: how teaching children about gender could help reduce sexism</a>
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<p>This followed a submission to the committee from Aotearoa New Zealand’s <a href="https://www.hrc.co.nz/files/6814/7426/0090/Supplementary_Report_of_NZHRC_for_CRC_73rd_session_NZ.pdf">Human Rights Commission</a>. The UN committee called on the country to ensure no one is subjected to unnecessary medical or surgical treatment during infancy or childhood, and to guarantee the child’s right to bodily integrity, autonomy and self-determination. </p>
<p>In response to the <a href="https://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2fPPRiCAqhKb7yhsrXsJ3pRx9xOCak0Ed1mLEkIUHtKTSHNWA9ddXmo8oiUgGuB9JUoxS6ES4ymmXawE3W7Z52o%2b4tn33VBe09mSo1Rr6ta1lLVkTxmo%2fSYUATQ">recommendations</a> of the UN committee, as well as domestic advocacy, the Ministry of Health directed the Paediatric Society to set up an <a href="https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/monitoring/uncroc/reporting/sixth-report/issues/rights/violence/harmful-practices.html">intersex working group</a> to develop <a href="https://starship.org.nz/guidelines/differences-of-sex-development-atawhai-taihemahema/">guidelines</a> for infants born intersex. </p>
<p>But this has so far failed to make significant changes to the practice of surgical intervention on children’s genitalia. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-gender-pronouns-and-why-is-it-important-to-use-the-right-ones-169025">What are gender pronouns and why is it important to use the right ones?</a>
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<h2>Aotearoa New Zealand can do better</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.renews.co.nz/we-cant-forget-new-zealand-still-discriminates-against-rainbow-communities/">advocates</a> continue to call for legislation to defer interventions until children themselves are capable of consenting or expressing their own views. </p>
<p>Central to any policy, legislative or medical development must be the child’s right to be free from discrimination. </p>
<p>Children have the right to have their voices heard. This means, with the exception of life-saving treatment, any interventions should be postponed until a child is competent to decide. </p>
<p>Where necessary, a skilled, independent advocate should be appointed to represent the child’s interests. Current medical practice in Aotearoa New Zealand falls well short of those goals.</p>
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<p><em>The authors are grateful to the contribution of researchers Craig Dempster and Sam Johnston, and to members of the Intersex Health and Well-Being Working Group (Incentive), who gave feedback on an earlier draft.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168936/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>With no clear biomedical basis for most early surgery on intersex children, interventions should be postponed until a child is competent to decide for themselves.Claire Breen, Professor of Law, University of WaikatoKatrina Roen, Professor of Sociology, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1701302021-10-20T10:31:38Z2021-10-20T10:31:38ZClimate crisis: how states may be held responsible for impact on children<p>The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/SessionDetails1.aspx?SessionID=1351&Lang=en">has determined</a> that a government can, in theory, be held to account for the impact its country’s carbon emissions have on its children, both within and outside of its borders. This is in response to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-15-other-children-greta-thunberg-has-filed-a-un-complaint-against-5-countries-heres-what-itll-achieve-124090">complaint</a> filed in September 2019 by youth climate activists, including Greta Thunberg. </p>
<p>The petition alleged that, by failing to reduce carbon emissions in line with <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-1-5-global-warming-limit-is-not-impossible-but-without-political-action-it-soon-will-be-159297">the Paris Agreement</a>, five nations – Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany and Turkey – were violating their rights to life, to health and to culture, as guaranteed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). <a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1176525238206640136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1176525238206640136%7Ctwgr%5Ehb_2_7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconversation.com%2Fwith-15-other-children-greta-thunberg-has-filed-a-un-complaint-against-5-countries-heres-what-itll-achieve-124090">Thunberg explained</a> that these countries were named for illustrative purposes: they are the highest emitters to have ratified the complaints mechanism of the CRC. </p>
<p>The petition outlined specific impacts of climate change on the individual children’s lives: how the sight of rising sea levels are damaging the mental health of children in Micronesia – undermining their CRC right to health; how, in northern Sweden, children’s CRC right to culture is being denied because climate change is hindering the reindeer herding traditions passed down through generations. </p>
<p>Elsewhere the complaint highlighted rising temperatures in Lagos, Nigeria and related respiratory conditions; the various threats posed by drought conditions in Tunisia, California and South Africa; and the deadly heat waves that have come to characterise French summers. </p>
<p>However, instead of engaging with these specific claims, and determining what specific responsibilities governments might bear as a result, the committee ruled only on a theoretical level. States, it ruled, bear <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ejil/article/29/2/581/5057069">cross-border responsibility</a> towards children for failing mitigate the climate crisis. </p>
<p>This case was the first to be taken by a group of children to a UN body. But while the ruling does mark a milestone in international law, the claimants are right to be disappointed with the outcome. This is a missed opportunity. In refusing to engage with their specific claims, the committee has proven unwilling to ensure that human rights procedures match the urgency of the climate crisis.</p>
<h2>Legal responsibility</h2>
<p>The committee found that states are not taking enough steps to reduce emissions, even when they can reasonably foresee that children in other states will be harmed. Where children have litigated through national courts (and failed), the committee will admit complaints. </p>
<p>In this instance, the committee’s refusal to rule on the specific claims made by these 16 children is precisely because, as it contended, the applicants had not first worked through courts in their respective countries.</p>
<p>However, the committee’s rules of procedure do <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/opiccrc.aspx">state</a> that this requirement can be bypassed when such domestic litigation would be “unreasonably prolonged or unlikely to bring effective relief”. In other words, when it might take too long or be ineffective.</p>
<p>In their <a href="https://childrenvsclimatecrisis.org/">original petition</a>, the young people had duly outlined why no equivalent domestic court cases would succeed. They showed that children struggle to <a href="https://home.crin.org/issues/access-to-justice">access justice</a>, they outlined the urgency of the climate crisis and they claimed that no single court could provide the remedy sought in the petition against these five nations.</p>
<p>On the face of it, then, these reasons provided the committee with a firm legal basis on which to override the rule that applicants work through domestic courts before reaching international level with a climate case. Although the standard for bypassing the rule is high, recent cases <a href="https://www.ejiltalk.org/breaking-new-ground-again-the-cerd-committees-decision-on-admissibility-in-palestine-v-israel/">have demonstrated</a> that it is not impossible. However, the committee did not go down that route. </p>
<h2>Lost opportunity</h2>
<p>The committee published five separate decisions, <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2fC%2f88%2fD%2f104%2f2019&Lang=en">one for each state</a> named in the petition. In these, it spends little time outlining why they do not accept the arguments the young people have made. </p>
<p>In its decision relating specifically to <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CRC%2fC%2f88%2fD%2f107%2f2019&Lang=en">Germany</a>, the committee refers to the recent case of Neubauer v Germany in which a young climate activist from the Fridays for Future movement was successful in arguing that the German state needed to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/29/historic-german-ruling-says-climate-goals-not-tough-enough">change its climate policy</a>. The committee states that this is evidence that national courts can provide avenues for meaningful climate litigation. </p>
<p>Although this may be true in Germany, there are four other states in this UN complaint where it is not at all clear that national courts would follow suit. The entire basis for the committee refusing to hear the youths’ case was that they did not first go through national courts. It is therefore disappointing that the committee did not elaborate further on why an exception to the rule could not be made, at least in the case of the four other states.</p>
<p>This finding means that youth litigants are expected to find laws and legal representatives to help them litigate in their own countries. Neither is a given. And even if they were to manage this, they would most likely already be well into adulthood. The climate crisis, meanwhile, will be even more severe, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/aug/09/humans-have-caused-unprecedented-and-irreversible-change-to-climate-scientists-warn">perhaps irreversible</a>. This surely qualifies as litigation that is “unlikely to bring effective relief” and could therefore be bypassed.</p>
<p>The past three years have increasingly seen <a href="https://archive.discoversociety.org/2020/03/04/it-is-time-to-accept-that-children-have-a-right-to-be-political/">children speak out</a> because of the devastating urgency of the climate crisis. This case in particular has demonstrated the <a href="https://brill.com/view/title/11631">level of engagement</a> that children can have with environmental and other political governance. </p>
<p>Interestingly, the committee saw fit to write a summary and explanation of the decision in <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/CRC/Open_letter_on_climate_change.pdf">child-friendly language</a>. This represents a step forward for <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/CRC/Open_letter_on_climate_change.pdf">child-friendly justice</a> at an international level where <a href="https://brill.com/view/title/35870">children are rarely litigants</a>.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the young litigants in this case feel let down. As Catarina Lorenzo (14, from Brazil) <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2021/10/12/2312125/27401/en/UN-Committee-on-the-Rights-of-the-Child-Turns-Its-Back-on-Climate-Change-Petition-From-Greta-Thunberg-and-Children-From-Around-the-World.html">has put it</a>, “I am disappointed in the committee for not seeing this case as admissible in a moment in which we are desperate for real and effective action, as we are facing a crisis, the climate crisis.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170130/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aoife Daly does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The long-awaited ruling by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is as groundbreaking as it is disappointing. Where to next for young climate activists?Aoife Daly, Lecturer in Law, University College CorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.