 Rights of the Child 1989
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the most comprehensive document on the rights of children. Based purely on the number of substantive rights it sets forth, as distinct from implementation measures, it is the longest U.N. human rights treaty in force and unusual in that it not only addresses the granting and implementation of rights in peacetime, but also the treatment of children in situations of armed conflict. The CRC is also significant because it enshrines, “for the first time in binding international law, the principles upon which adoption is based, viewed from the child’s perspective.” The CRC is primarily concerned with four aspects of children’s rights (“the four ‘P’s”): participation by children in decisions affecting them; protection of children against discrimination and all forms of neglect and exploitation; prevention of harm to them; and provision of assistance to children for their basic needs. For the purposes of the CRC, a child is defined as “every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier” (article 1).
Key accomplishments of the CRC have been described as five-fold. It creates new rights for children under international law that previously had not existed, such as the child’s right to preserve his or her identity (articles 7 and 8), the rights of vulnerable children like refugees to special protection (articles 20 and 22), and indigenous children’s right to practice their culture (articles 8 and 30). In some instances, this innovation takes the form of child-specific versions of existing rights, such as those in regard to freedom of expression (article 13) and the right to a fair trial (article 40). In addition, the CRC enshrines in a global treaty rights that hitherto had only been found in case law under regional human rights treaties (e.g., children’s right to be heard in proceedings that affect them) (article 12). The CRC also replaced non-binding recommendations with binding standards (e.g., safeguards in adoption procedures and with regard to the rights of disabled children) (articles 21 and 23). New obligations are imposed on States Parties in regard to the protection of children, in such areas as banning traditional practices prejudicial to children’s health and offering rehabilitative measures for victims of neglect, abuse, and exploitation (articles 28(3) and 39). Finally, the CRC sets forth an express ground obligating States Parties not to discriminate against children’s enjoyment of CRC rights. The right to participate in proceedings, it is argued, “together with the principles of non-discrimination in Article 2 and provision for the child’s best interests in Article 3, form the guiding principles of the Convention, which reflect the vision of respect and autonomy which the drafters wished to create for all children.”
Optional Protocols to the CRC on Sex Trafficking, Armed Conflict
The United Nations adopted two protocols to the CRC on May 25, 2000, the Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography 2000 (Sex Trafficking Protocol) and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (Child Soldiers Protocol) . The Sex Trafficking Protocol(STP) addresses the problem of sex trafficking, one among many purposes for which children are bought and sold, including, in addition, forced labor, adoption, participation in armed conflicts, marriage, and organ trade. The Preamble refers to achieving “the purposes of the CRC” and to the need for States Parties to implement specific provisions, among them CRC articles 34 and 35 on broad protections against child trafficking, sexual exploitation, and abuse. The Preamble also reflects CRC language in regard to protecting children from economic exploitation and performance of hazardous or harmful work. In addition, it recognizes “that a number of particularly vulnerable groups, including girl children, are at greater risk of