Perspectives on Children, Rights, and Vulnerability

Abstract The main topic discussed in this volume is whether vulnerability theories bring any added value to children’s rights discourses. A child-rights-based approach is based on an understanding of children as specifically vulnerable. Yet, such a conception of children’s vulnerability has increasingly been called into question. The new dimension is that this is now being discussed from a legal perspective. In this chapter, we introduce several vulnerability paradigms and present subsequent chapters in the book.

Abstract Drawing on research with children, this chapter suggests that children are not inevitably vulnerable, but that adults’ perceptions of that – often different from children’s own – can work to render them vulnerable and/or undermine their enjoyment of their human rights. It also questions whether an approach that conceptualises both adults and children as vulnerable might impact children differently and disproportionately, displacing the dedicated gaze on children’s rights and interests, reinforcing existing paternalistic responses to children, and undermining their ability to shape and inform their own lives.

Abstract This chapter explores the concept of childhood health through the lens of universal vulnerability and relational theory. It argues that these illustrate the highly individualised and idealised nature of definitions of health. Once we see childhood through the lens of universal vulnerability theory, the boundaries between adults and children collapse. We can then see health as communal and inter-relational, a place where mutual vulnerability and lack of capacity can be celebrated.

Abstract Children are not vulnerable. Children are held in vulnerable situations due to societal structures and institutions keeping them from experiencing strength, social well-being and health. This chapter discusses whether state obligations according to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Art. 24 on the right to health require policy work on societal structures and institutions read in light of CRC Art. 2 on the right to non-discrimination and the theory of substantive equality.

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how vulnerable we are, individually, collectively and globally. The pandemic caught many Global North countries by surprise, unused to such widespread and pervasive disaster. Despite Scotland’s commitment to children’s human rights, state responses show the precarity of children’s human rights under the pressures of responding to the pandemic, and the vulnerability of considering the full range of children’s rights to protection, provision, and participation.

Abstract Childhood is believed to be a phase of inevitable dependency on physical and emotional care. Care is a relational concept, connected to the role and relationship between children and their parents. However, most children spend considerable time at school, and their relationship with other children and the school staff can be of fundamental importance. This chapter discusses the school’s caring role and whether lack of care might be a problem for protection and fulfilment of children’s rights.

Abstract The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) recognises the rights of all children, including children in conflict with the law, who are entitled to age-appropriate treatment and respect for their dignity and right to reintegration into society. Despite these standards, many states ignore the special vulnerability of these children, who often suffer poor individual, family and community circumstances which are compounded by punitive responses that focus on their behaviour rather than their needs. This chapter presents the view that rights-based responses to children in conflict with the law that focus on rather than deny the vulnerability of these children find greater support in the research.

Abstract Reports show that many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children above 15 years of age struggle and are vulnerable. This chapter investigates whether caregiving for these children in Norway constitutes discrimination against them. Further, I ask whether the understanding of children’s unique vulnerability is reflected in the legislation concerning unaccompanied asylum-seeking children 15–18 years of age – or whether the state is rather creating a vulnerable situation for them.

Abstract This chapter presents the recent findings on the health and well-being of Finnish schoolchildren belonging to certain vulnerable groups and discusses the responsibilities of the state to act to realise the rights of these children. Insofar as children’s rights in general lack effective implementation, it is difficult to define what it means to give special attention to realising the rights of vulnerable groups. It is argued that children’s special vulnerability is more often connected to the deficient implementation of their rights in general than to them belonging to a certain group labelled as vulnerable.

Abstract Children and young people are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and their rights are strongly affected. This chapter explores children’s access to courts and complaints mechanisms in the light of theories of vulnerability. Issues of legal standing, extraterritoriality and legal capacity are discussed. The author argues that legal empowerment is necessary for children to obtain real access to justice in this area and to be able to influence decision-making.

Abstract The chapter analyses provisions in the Norwegian Patient and User’s Rights Act on the rights of children to consent to healthcare without parental involvement, with a focus on children between 12–16 years old. The regulation serves as a case study to explore the balancing of children’s rights and parental responsibility. Theoretical perspectives on vulnerability and capability form the basis of the assessment of the legal balancing of children’s and parents’ interests and the role of health providers.

Abstract Children have a Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) right to be supported in the exercise of their capacities. In this chapter, interviews with a range of UK practitioners working with children (e.g., nurses, doctors and lawyers) are analysed. It emerges that professionals engage frequently with questions around children’s competence, whether or not they are required to officially assess it. The professionals interviewed were deeply supportive of children’s competence, but are operating in systems which frequently provide little space to increase children’s competence – this may make children more vulnerable.

Abstract The right to participate provides children with a vehicle to overcome vulnerable situations they may find themselves in. This chapter presents the results from an empirical study concerning the participation of refugee children in asylum procedures in the Netherlands. It shows that the nature and goal of the asylum procedure creates a vulnerable situation in which children cannot participate effectively. Refugee children, though, seem to overcome vulnerabilities by showing agency in the procedure.

Abstract This chapter analyses child vulnerability in two major crises: the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. The strategies of children during the pandemic in Switzerland and children’s agency in climate demonstrations are captured in an online survey and in the speeches of Greta Thunberg. This shows that vulnerability is bound to how social arrangements – including human rights – mitigate natural frailty, and it advocates for better inclusion of children’s rights and agency in participatory public policies.