Daily Archives: December 7, 2018

#HumanRightsDay- Climate Change, War And It’s Impact On The Rights of Children

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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights turns 70 today. This milestone declaration documents the most basic rights that every person is inherently entitled to. Yet, time and again, children continue to be exploited, abused and violated, reiterating that human rights do not always translate into child rights.

War and climate change are two major humanitarian emergencies which have had a catastrophic impact on children of the world. Childhoods are being uprooted and cut short. There has never been a more urgent need for communities and countries to pull together and work collectively to guarantee human rights for children.

This Human Rights Day we look at some of the major crises over the world that continue to infringe the rights of children across the world.

FLOODS IN KERALA, INDIA

Photo – Indian Express

In August 2018, India’s southern state of Kerala faced one its most devastating floods since 1924. It impacted 23 million people, approximately 70% of the state’s entire population, of whom 7 million are children. Many lives were uprooted, with houses collapsing and normalcy being disrupted, leaving hundreds of children homeless. Health and sanitation issues due to the contaminated water, closure of schools, and an acute loss of safety and security as an aftermath of the floods are some issues that these children are still struggling to come to terms with, besides the trauma of losing their family members. 

REFUGEE AND MIGRANT CRISIS ACROSS EUROPE 

Photo – Muhammed Muheisen/ Everyday Refugees

Termed as the biggest child refugee crisis since World War II, the refugee crisis across Europe still persists. Children from war zones – Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Yemen, continue to flee their home countries in search of a safe place to live. While most embark on these endless journeys with their families, some even set out alone. According to UNICEF, last year 25000 children entering Italy arrived alone. Of the few families and children that make it to safer countries, most are denied asylum as countries all over the world are putting in place stringent anti-refugee laws. Extremely vulnerable, these children are often exploited for illegal labour, including sexual exploitation. The USA’s refugee policy of separating migrant children from their families has been an urgent humanitarian issue brought up time and again in 2018, yet to see a solution. 

EARTHQUAKE IN INDONESIA

Photo – BBC

On 28 September, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia triggered a tsunami, affecting approx. 1.5 million people in Sulawesi. Of these, 665,000 are children. Children have been displaced, worse, many of them have lost their families. More than 2700 schools have been affected, directly impacting the education of 2,70,000 children in the region. This is also an area where acute stunting and wasting is common amongst children.  With climate change making increasingly making its impact felt, it is time to engage with issues of human rights and concerns vis a vis climate change, and to realize that adopting sustainable lifestyles is ultimately in the interest of leaving a safer earth for our children. 

CONFLICT AND DROUGHT IN SOMALIA 

Photo – The Ground Truth Project

As Somalia enters its tenth year of civil war, 3.4 million children continue to be innocent victims of the violence and conflict. A drought that has persisted since February 2017, has made this humanitarian emergency even worse, creating an acute food and drinking water shortage, triggering severe malnutrition and mortality amongst children. 

HURRICANE IN HAITI 

Photo – Kentucky Today

One year after hurricane Matthew caused catastrophic damage in Haiti, the situation continues to be dire. With 779,000 children still in need, there is a long way to go to ensure adequate human rights for Haiti’s children. The country is affected by cholera outbreaks, food insecurity, malnutrition, migration and natural disasters. According to UNICEF, more than “4.8 million people lack access to an improved water source, 1.3 million people are food insecure, and more than 75,000 children under 5 are affected by acute malnutrition, including some 25,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.”

Meanwhile, at the UN convention for Climate Change, Greta Thunberg, a 15-year-old Swedish climate change activist offers us some hope that if all of us do our bit, we might be able to leave behind a better world for our children. “For 25 years countless people have come to the UN climate conferences begging our world leaders to stop emissions and clearly that has not worked as emissions are continuing to rise. So I will not beg the world leaders to care for our future. I will instead let them know change is coming whether they like it or not.” 

Corporal Punishment: How Not To Teach A Child A Lesson

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Corporal punishment has for the longest time been one of the most favored methods for disciplining children. As the famous and much quoted biblical proverb goes, “spare the rod and spoil the child”, many parents, teachers and care givers have commonly used this to teach many a childhood lessons.

In a more rights driven world today, the belief that inflicting physical harm and causing pain is an efficient form of retribution is being questioned world over. Recently Mongolia prohibited all forms of violence against children in legislation, including corporal punishment at home. However, with only 60 countries having adopted legislation that fully prohibits the use of corporal punishment against children at home, there still remain over 600 million children under the age of 5 without full legal protection.

While India legally protects its children against all forms of corporal punishment, the law is still a long way from being a ground reality. “According to a study by Plan International, an NGO, more than 65% of children in Indian schools said they had received corporal punishment. The report, which was released in 2010, found that the majority of these children attended government schools. Out of the 13 countries which were surveyed by the organisation, India was ranked third in terms of the estimated economic cost of corporal punishment. The study also found that caste and gender discrimination were high in schools.”, says an article on corporal punishment published in The Wire.

Many of the child protection studies conducted by Leher across Madhubani, Leh, J&K and Mumbai have also found that corporal punishment is still widely prevalent and is an acceptable and essential part of raising children and disciplining them.

JUST HOW COMMON IS CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN INDIA? 

This UNICEF study tells us, “Two out of three school going children in India are physically abused says the national report on child abuse by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2007. The crime is rampant in every single district of the country.

Boys are marginally more likely to face physical abuse (73 per cent) than girls (65 percent). Corporal punishment in both government as well as private schools is deeply ingrained as a tool to discipline children and as a normal action. But most children do not report or confide about the matter to anyone and suffer silently.”

WHAT DO EXPERTS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT CORPORAL PUNISHMENT? WE QUOTE AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED BY CNN.

“…legislation is not sufficient when it’s not accompanied by changes in individual attitudes and social norms, and that can even become dangerous, because it can push certain things into a secret sphere.”

“Many experts say that spanking is linked with an increased risk of negative outcomes for children — such as aggression, adult mental health problems, and even dating violence — while a few others warn against jumping to such conclusions.”

And, “…corporal punishment sends confusing messages to children about notions of love, control, pain and autonomy. It legitimises inflicting pain on someone you love to control or discipline them, on the grounds of it being necessary for their own well-being… Relationships thus get based on control, not on building autonomy through positive engagement and self-regulation.”

WHAT’S THE ALTERNATIVE? CREATING SAFE SPACES FOR CHILDREN, FREE OF VIOLENCE, THROUGH NOT ONLY CHANGE IN LAWS, BUT ALSO MINDSETS AND ATTITUDES, TOWARDS BUILDING A CULTURE OF SAFE CHILDHOODS. 

“We have to find the right balance, I think. Children need love and positive parenting … but sometimes they also need effective negative consequences, especially when young children are defiant.”

“Before even thinking about discipline, parents need to think about creating a warm, emotionally supportive and loving connection with your children.”

“Legislation alone is not enough to eliminate corporal punishment. It needs to be supported by building a public discourse. Particularly in context of schools, it requires investing in teachers by training them in alternative classroom management strategies and constructive solutions to challenging classroom situations. Schools must be motivated to encourage self-regulation by using student bodies to inculcate adherence to rules and manners.”