Human Rights and children’s everyday living

The introduction of human rights discourses as they relate to the protection of children’s wellbeing has been widely accepted. My ongoing program of research deals with child protection, family violence, and children’s... [ view full abstract ]

The introduction of human rights discourses as they relate to the protection of children’s wellbeing has been widely accepted. My ongoing program of research deals with child protection, family violence, and children’s rights specifically in Central America and the Caribbean. Informed through my child protection experience in Canada, theoretical training, and personal ties with the areas. The guiding question for my research and practice has been: “what do human rights mean in the everyday living experiences of children and youth?” With this question in mind, I have focused on examining the experiences that children and youth have with the different institutions who are in charge of protecting those rights. I have also put emphasis on the need to explore how we move from a purely legalistic approach of human rights as they apply to children and youth, to a more pragmatic approach; concentrating on the local realities of children’s lives. Thereby considering how those realities - the context of geographical location impacts rights, and how the application of rights is imfluenced/affected. Through the use of examples from my research, this presentation will discuss ways to engage children’s human rights on an everyday basis and the responsibilities held by the different institutions who are accountable for protecting children and youth from abuse, maltreatment and the denial of rights.