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Children's Rights
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CAN THERE BE ANY UNIVERSAL CHILDREN’S RIGHTS? SOME CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING RELATIVITY AND ENFORCEMENT
Kristina A. Bentley Discussion paper D&G Seminar 6 November 2002

OUTLINE…………………………………………………………………………………....1 1. 2. 3. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………..2 POINTS OF CLARIFICATION: WHAT THIS PAPER IS NOT ABOUT…………….2 WHAT ARE CHILDREN’S RIGHTS?……………………………………………………4 3.1 Child labour……………………………………………………………………..……6 3.2 Child soldiers…………………………………………………………………………7 3.3 Drugs and prostitution………………………………………………………………..9 3.4 Crime and punishment………………………………………………………………10 A UNIVERSAL UNDERSTANDING OF CHILDHOOD? SOME CHALLENGING EXAMPLES…………………………………………………………..11 4.1 Children who commit violent crimes: The Bulger killers…………..………………11 4.2 Children engaged in combat: Liberia, DRC and Sierra Leone…………………...…13 4.3 Children as economic agents: HIV/AIDS and dependency…………………………………………………………………...……..14 4.4 Marriage and childbearing: children with children……………………………....…15 ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTS OF CHILDHOOD……………………………………...16 AGE-RELATED (DEROGABLE) RIGHTS AND QUESTIONS ABOUT AUTONOMY…………………………………………………………………….19 6.1 Political participation………………………………………………………………..19 6.2 Property administration……………………………………………………………..20 6.3 Self-ownership………………………………………………………………………20 6.4 Freedom of association………………………………………………………...……21 CONCLUSION(S)…………………………………………………………………………22 SOURCES………………………………………………………………………………….23 APPENDIX: DOCUMENTS a. United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 b. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Chapter 2, Section 28 on Children) c. Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, 2000 d. Status of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, 29 July 2002

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INTRODUCTION

This paper is intended for the purposes of discussion to raise questions,
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