SAY IT RIGHT! IV – Being Free From Harm: Our Right to Protection

Article 2: Freedom from Discrimination

All the rights in the Convention apply to all young people without exception. Also, governments have the responsibility to make sure that we are protected from discrimination and punishment based on our families’ status, origin, beliefs, etc.

Hear youth talk about discrimination. Read Nobody’s Born a Racist., Students Commission, 1993. For a copy, call (416)597-8297, write 70 University Avenue, Suite 1050, Toronto, ON, M5J 2M4 or e-mail tgmag@tgmag.ca

Article 11: Kidnapping and Holding of Young People

Governments have a responsibility to combat the kidnapping or holding of young people in foreign countries, either by a parent or by any other person.

Article 19: Abuse and Neglect

We have the right to be protected from all abuse, mental and physical violence, neglect and exploitation while we are under the care of anyone who is responsible for us. We also have the right to learn how to prevent and treat this abuse.

Article 20: Young People without Families

If we are deprived of a family environment, we have the right to special protection and assistance from our government, and we are entitled to alternative family or institutional care which respects our ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic background.

Read publications from youth in care. The Slice. BC Federation of Youth in Care Networks. Call (604)689-3204 or write to 2nd floor, 1280 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 3N9. The Networker. National Youth in Care Network, Ottawa. Call (613)230-8945 for more information, or write to #607-251 Bank Street, Ottawa, ON, K2P 1X3.

Article 22: Young Refugees

If we are refugees, forced to leave our country to avoid persecution, or we are seeking refugee status, we are entitled to special protection and assistance from governments.

Article 32: Child Labour

We have the right to be protected from economic exploitation and from any work that is a threat to our health, education and development. Our government has the responsibility to set a minimum age for employment, make rules about hours and conditions of work, and establish penalties for enforcement of these rules.

Read this Personal Story by Craig Kielburger who, with his friends, began a group called Free the Children to stop the bonded labour of young people.

Article 33: Protection from Narcotics

We have the right to be protected from the use of illegal drugs, and from being involved in their production and distribution.

Article 34: Protection from Sexual Exploitation

We have the right to be protected from sexual exploitation and abuse, including prostitution and pornography.

Article 35: Protection from Sale and Trafficking

Governments have the responsibility to do everything they can to prevent the sale, trafficking and abduction of young people.

Article 36: All Other Exploitation

We have the right to be protected against all other types of exploitation.

Article 37: Punishment and Detention

We have the right to be protected from torture, cruel treatment or punishment and unlawful arrest or other invasions of liberty. Our government has the responsibility to make sure that capital punishment and life imprisonment are prohibited for young people. If our liberty is taken away, we have the right to be treated with humanity and respect, to be kept separated from adults, to keep contact with our families and to receive legal assistance.

Article 38: Wars and Armed Conflicts

If we are under the age of fifteen, we have the right to be excluded from any direct part in wars and armed conflicts. If we are affected by armed conflict, our government has the responsibility to provide us with special protection and care.

Article 39: Rehabilitative Care

If we have experienced armed conflict, torture, neglect or exploitation, we have the right to receive appropriate care for our recovery.

Article 40: Young People and Justice

If we are accused of breaking the law, we have the right to be treated with dignity, to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, to be told of the charges made against us, to have an interpreter if needed, to receive a fair trial, to have our privacy respected and to appeal the court’s decision. Governments have the responsibility to establish a minimum age below which young people will be presumed not to have the capacity to break penal law. Also, governments must consider appropriate alternative measures to institutional care, such as guidance, supervision, probation, foster care, education or training programmes.

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