as well as in conditions of freedom and dignity... children must be protected against all form of abandonment, cruelty and exploitation " (Declaration of Children’s Rights).Children are entitled to adult protection, but they are not adult property: children also have the right to make decisions on their own behalf according to their maturity. Children have the right to be heard and to have their own opinions on matters affecting them taken into account “in accordance with the age and maturity of the child” (Amnesty International, 2000). Very young children rely on others to express their views and protect their best interests; as they grow older, they become more able to speak for themselves and engage in decision making on their own behalf.In many societies, even small children have significant economic responsibilities: they have to work, either to support themselves or as part of the family economy, so there is little time left over for school or play. A South African activist and educator has pointed out that the conception of the child as “an individual shorn of most obligations, economically dependent, politically uninvolved, emotionally and morally immature, and secure within and represented by a family”, fits the experiences of very few children in the world (Amnesty International, 2000). Yet those children who are forced to bear the financial burden and emotional responsibilities of adulthood are at even greater risk of abuse precisely because they are not perceived as children. It is probably not recognized that they are still emotionally and physically immature, and so in need of the additional safeguards and protections provided by the relevant legal standards (Reynolds, 1998).Worldwide abuse against childrenTorture and mistreatment are prohibited by international human rights and humanitarian law, and almost all national law. But children are entitled to even higher levels of protection; intern...
