Civil and political rights
What is the issue?
Civil and political rights are among the best known human rights, covering freedom from discrimination and the right to privacy, as well as the right to peaceful assembly, free expression, the right to vote, and freedom of religion. But children’s civil and political rights are systematically denied to them, and with little justification, despite international human right law enshrining these rights for everyone. And this is a major reason why children’s rights continue to be widely unfulfilled.
What is the problem?
Taking a look at how a society views children’s civil and political rights is a good gauge of how that society views children - as rights holders or merely as the property of their parents.
Right to vote: Under-18s represent almost a third of the world’s population, yet unlike adults, they have no say in the rules and laws that govern their lives or in deciding who gets to make them. No country in the world allows under-16s to vote in national elections, and only a few allow suffrage to children aged between 16 and 18 at national or local levels.
Freedom of expression: In places where adults' right to express themselves freely is well established, traditional attitudes towards children often maintain that they should be 'seen but not heard'. Children human rights defenders all over the world are speaking out on issues in relation to the environment, armed conflict, education, health, violence, discrimination, and other matters. However they are not taken seriously, bullied, threatened or face reprisals by adults for their activism.
Freedom of association: While many societies restrict everyone's freedom to gather and assemble peacefully, others place particular limits on this right for children. Curfews and minimum ages for joining associations are some examples. Children’s participation in protests is often banned, discouraged or threatened with penalties. Despite this, children have taken to the streets, as seen in the case of Fridays for Future peaceful protests addressing the climate crisis worldwide, or have organised into child workers' unions like in Latin America.
Right to privacy: Children are particularly vulnerable to breaches of their privacy because of the range of situations in which adults have power over them. Countless activities, ranging from requiring parental consent for internet information access to monitoring children’s activity in schools as part of national security programmes using IT systems that collect information about children’s activities, breach children’s privacy.
Access to justice: Courts and complaint mechanisms frequently do not have the authority or capacity to enforce children’s rights. The rules governing how and by whom a complaint can be made commonly prevent under-18s from bringing complaints or giving evidence themselves. And children often lack access to the free legal advice and assistance that they need to effectively engage with the legal system.
Access to information: Child protection arguments are often used as an excuse to restrict children's access to information and legitimise discrimination. Such violations are widespread and take many forms: from bans on sexuality education, to overly broad internet filters which block objective information about drug use or LGBT+ services, through to biased accounts of history in school books. We recognise the need to protect children, however these disproportionate restrictions deny them an opportunity to make informed choices and develop critical thinking.
Freedom of religion: Children face the imposition of religious views more frequently and in more settings than any other population group, whether it be because of an official state religion, parents passing down their religious beliefs, religion being taught in schools or limits on children’s ability to make decisions about their own faith. A number of child deaths have been recorded because their parents, from various religious backgrounds, have rejected life-saving medical interventions for their child on religious grounds.
What is the solution?
Governments need to recognise that children’s human rights do not just relate to protection, welfare and education; children have civil and political rights too, enshrined in international law. To improve respect for children’s civil and political rights States should:
Right to vote: Allow individuals to vote as and when they choose to do so and are able to register for voting. Such a method would eliminate the use of arbitrary age restrictions which ignore the wide range of skills and competencies possessed by children of different ages and life experiences.
Freedom of expression: Children's right to freedom of expression should be explicitly guaranteed in legislation, including in laws on protection of children human rights defenders.
Active citizenship: Schools and other educational bodies should promote active citizenship education on democracy, politics and human rights.
Right to protest: States have an obligation to create an enabling environment for children of all ages to protest peacefully without the fear of disciplinary measures, penalties, intimidation, reprisals, violence, or arrests. At the same time, additional avenues to express their concerns should be created within formal institutions and processes.
Access to justice: Children, just like anyone else, should be able to trust and use the legal system to get justice. States should allow children to bring cases in their own name where they are assessed to be competent to do so, without resorting to age as a measure of maturity.
Access to information: Governments need to ensure that any restrictions on children's access to information are transparent, adhere to children's rights and are determined with input from children themselves. Children should receive online safety education and have access to digital safety and privacy tools in order to explore diverse information sources, enabling them to form independent opinions and express themselves freely.
Freedom of religion: Children can be introduced to the faith of their parents and involved in religious activities, but must increasingly be given control over their own involvement in their parents’ or any other religion or no religion.
Resources
Related content: A-Z index rights issues