Children's rights
"[2] Children's rights includes their right to association with both parents, human identity as well as the basic needs for physical protection, food, universal state-paid education, health care, and criminal laws appropriate for the age and development of the child, equal protection of the child's civil rights, and freedom from discrimination on the basis of the child's race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability, color, ethnicity, or other characteristics.
][24] A report by the Committee on Social Affairs, Health, and Sustainable Development of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe identified several areas the Committee was concerned about, including procedures such as "female genital mutilation, the circumcision of young boys for religious reasons, early childhood medical interventions in the case of intersex children and the submission to or coercion of children into piercings, tattoos or plastic surgery".
[25] The Assembly adopted a non-binding resolution in 2013 that calls on its 47 member-states to take numerous actions to promote the physical integrity of children.
[26][non-primary source needed] Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child enjoins parties to "take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation".
"[28] The United Nations Human Rights Committee has also interpreted Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibiting "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" to extend to children, including corporal punishment of children.
Historically intersex children have been the subject of involuntary surgical assignment and later hormone replacement therapy to a binary sex/gender, which was often concealed from patients; in the US, this system was known as the optimum gender of rearing model, which organizations such as the ISNA heavily criticized.
[31][32] Intersex children often face high levels of mental stress, and stigmatization, as well as isolation for having atypical bodies, or undergoing medical procedures.
In the majority of jurisdictions, for instance, children are not allowed to vote, to marry, to buy alcohol, to have sex, or to engage in paid employment.
[40] The issue is particularly relevant in legal proceedings that affect the potential emancipation of minors, and in cases where children sue their parents.
The Supreme Court of the United States, in the case of Prince v. Massachusetts, ruled that a parent's religion does not permit a child to be placed at risk.
[45][46] The Supreme Court of Canada ruled, in the case of E (Mrs) v Eve, that parents may not grant surrogate consent for non-therapeutic sterilization.
In the UK the formation of a community of educationalists, teachers, youth justice workers, politicians and cultural contributors called the New Ideals in Education Conferences[49] (1914–37) stood for the value of 'liberating the child' and helped to define the 'good' primary school in England until the 80s.
A.S. Neill's 1915 book A Dominie's Log (1915), a diary of a headteacher changing his school to one based on the liberation and happiness of the child, can be seen as a cultural product that celebrates the heroes of this movement.
[53] The majority of opposition stems from concerns related to national sovereignty, states' rights, the parent-child relationship.
Whenever so called for, national plans of action should be devised to combat devastating emergencies resulting from natural disasters and armed conflicts and the equally grave problem of children in extreme poverty.
Further, para 48 urges all states, with the support of international cooperation, to address the acute problem of children under especially difficult circumstances.
They include the Child Rights Caucus for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children.
In this trial 15-year-old Gerald Gault of Arizona was taken into custody by local police after being accused of making an obscene telephone call.
He was detained and committed to the Arizona State Industrial School until he reached the age of 21 for making an obscene phone call to an adult neighbor.
In an 8–1 decision, the Court ruled that in hearings which could result in commitment to an institution, people under the age of 18 have the right to notice and counsel, to question witnesses, and to protection against self-incrimination.
[64] The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled in the case of Roper v. Simmons that persons may not be executed for crimes committed when below the age of eighteen.
It ruled that such executions are cruel and unusual punishment, so they are a violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The American Academy of Adoption Attorneys is concerned with children's rights to a safe, supportive and stable family structure.
A report filed by the President of the INGO Conference of the Council of Europe, Annelise Oeschger finds that children and their parents are subject to United Nations, European Union and UNICEF human rights violations.
Of particular concern is the German (and Austrian) agency, Jugendamt (German: Youth office) that often unfairly allows for unchecked government control of the parent-child relationship, which have resulted in harm including torture, degrading, cruel treatment and has led to children's death.
The problem is complicated by the nearly "unlimited power" of the Jugendamt officers, with no processes to review or resolve inappropriate or harmful treatment.
Germany has not recognized related child-welfare decisions made by the European Parliamentary Court that have sought to protect or resolve children and parents' rights violations.
