Sex tourism in Morocco: a thriving industry against children’s rights

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Exploitation, Human Rights, Poverty, violence

Morocco is increasingly becoming a ‘paradise’ for paedophiles coming from all around the world. Given its easy accessibility to Europe, the large number of impoverished children and the taboo nature of this issue, Morocco is the perfect destination for sex tourism and child sexual exploitation. Moreover, the weak legal and law enforcement structures in implementing […]

Bacha Bazi – severe child abuse disguised as an Afghani custom

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Exploitation, Human Rights, violence

Bacha Bazi is a custom that has been around Afghan tradition for centuries. However, over time, due to poverty and innumerable tragedies that have infiltrated the society of the region, this tradition got distorted to an extent that is now directly violating human and children´s rights. This practice became excessive once the US Special Forces […]

Forced migration of Palestinian children

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Exploitation, Freedom, Human Rights, Migration, Poverty, refugees, violence

“Every Palestinian child has the right to an environment in which they can reach their innate potential.” – UNICEF, 2019 Whilst most of the Palestinian children were forced to migrate to other countries due to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict that started in 1947, those who stayed are faced with a myriad of hardships. Among 2 million […]

Ethnic cleansing and grave violations of children’s rights in Ethiopia’s Western Tigray region

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Health, Human Rights, Poverty, violence

Hundreds of thousands of Tigrayans have been silently displaced, abused and scrutinized in atrocious actions played by the Amhara region and the Ethiopian Federal troops where children, women and men not only lost their homes and loved ones but also their dignity and human rights. This ethnic war has caused children in Western Tigray to […]

Roma children’s discrimination in education

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Education, Human Rights, Indigenous people

Roma children are discriminated against twice because of their affiliation to two marginalised groups: children and Roma. As members of the Roma community, they are subject to systematic discriminatory practices and policies across Europe, which affect them by the simple reason of their ethnic group. As children, their voices and needs are overlooked, sometimes in […]

Russia suppresses an organization defending LGBTQIA+ rights across Russia

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Empowerment, Freedom, Human Rights, LGBTQ+ Rights

On February 9, 2022, Russia’s Justice Ministry filed a lawsuit to liquidate the Charitable Foundation Sphere (CF Sphere), an important organization that defends the rights of LGBTQI+ peoples in Russia. (Lockshina 2022) The Saint Petersburg Kuibishevsky court “sidelined the lawsuit and requested the Ministry of Justice clarify its claims.” (Article19 2022)  Although their initial attempt […]

Diversity of bodies – intersex children’s rights to self-determine their own bodies

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Empowerment, Health, Human Rights, LGBTQ+ Rights

“Medicine and society need to see intersex individuals as natural. I occur in nature and I demand to make my own decisions, the same as any other person. And I demand it for any individual who is born intersex.” – Karen A. Walsh (Davis, 2016) The term “intersex” is an umbrella term that describes bodily […]

Children in armed conflict – the Ukraine crisis

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Freedom, Human Rights, Peace, refugees, violence

In light of the recent events in Ukraine, it is important to emphasise maintaining peace and protection for all children in Ukraine. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine poses an immediate and growing threat to the lives and well-being of the country’s 7.5 million children (UNICEF, 2022). Children have been killed, wounded, uprooted and severely distressed […]

Children’s right to identity – sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression (SOGIE)

Posted on Posted in Empowerment, Human Rights, LGBTQ+ Rights, Uncategorized

When individuals are asked about their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression (SOGIE), they often begin their stories saying: “I knew I was different (…)” (Marques, 2020). That suggests that society tells us that there is a ‘normal’ sexuality and gender identity. Children mostly grow up within an environment that conveys categories that are standards […]

A shameful chapter of Irish history: mother and baby homes

Posted on Posted in Children's Rights, Exploitation, Human Rights, violence

A recent flagship report from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY), a department of the Government of Ireland, has revealed that many religious institutions in Ireland have been enabling widespread abuse of unwed mothers and their children – often leading to death (Specia, 2021). Over the past twenty years, the country’s […]