Children’s Rights and Gender Identity: A New Frontier of Children’s Protagonism?

Abstract In 1975, the world-famous novelist Yaşar Kemal (1923–2015) undertook a series of journalistic interviews with street children in Istanbul. The series, entitled “Children Are Human” (Çocuklar İnsandır), reflects the author's rebellious attitude as well as the revolutionary spirit of hope in the 1970s in Turkey. Kemal's ethnographic fieldwork with street children criticized the demotion of children to a less-than-human status when present among adults. He approached children's rights from a human rights angle, stressing the humanity of children and that children's rights are human rights. The methodological contribution of this research to the history of children and youth is its engagement with ethnography as historical source. His research provided children the opportunity to express their political subjectivities and their understanding of the major political questions of the time, specifically those of social justice, (in)equality, poverty, and ethnic violence encountered in their everyday interactions with politics in the country. Yaşar Kemal's fieldwork notes and transcribed interviews also bring to light immense injustices within an intersectional framework of age, class, ethnicity, and gender. The author emphasizes that children's political agency and their political protest is deeply rooted in their subordination and misery, but also in their dreams and hopes. Situating Yaşar Kemal's “Children Are Human” in the context of the 1970s in Turkey, I hope to contribute to childhood studies with regard to the political agency of children as well as to the history of public intellectuals and newspapers in Turkey and to progressive representations of urban marginalization.

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Towards Comprehensive Guidance for States in the African Region to respond to Children’s Rights in Emergencies, Disasters and Pandemics

The International Journal of Children s Rights ◽

10.1163/15718182-29020002 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 447-474

Author(s):

Nicole Bouah ◽

Julia Sloth-Nielsen

Keyword(s):

Cultural Practices ◽

Children's Rights ◽

Children’S Rights ◽

Gender Based Violence ◽

African Region ◽

Genital Mutilation ◽

Reproductive Services ◽

Global North ◽

Gender Based ◽

And Gender

Abstract The covid-19 pandemic spread has it impacted health systems, economies and communities across the African continent. It has also exacerbated risks already faced by children: limiting access to education, reducing protection from sexual and gender-based violence, harmful traditional and cultural practices including child, early or forced marriage (cefm), female genital-mutilation (fgm); and further limiting access to reproductive services and food insecurity. This article illustrates that because demonstrably different considerations arise by comparison to children’s experiences in the global north, it would be a valuable contribution for the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child to develop a General Comment on state responses to upholding children’s rights in the context of epidemics, pandemics and emergencies, tailored to the specificities of the region.

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The child as a gendered rights holder

Childhood ◽

10.1177/0907568219886641 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 143-157

Author(s):

Sara Frödén ◽

Ann Quennerstedt

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

United Nations ◽

Children's Rights ◽

Children’S Rights ◽

Theoretical Frameworks ◽

Age And Gender ◽

Human Rights Treaties ◽

Sexual Orientations ◽

And Gender ◽

Rights Issues

In this article, we call for a gendering of children’s rights by using an intersectional approach. First, age and gender in different theoretical frameworks are highlighted. Second, we demonstrate the interconnection of age and gender in United Nations human rights treaties and interpretation guidance. Third, current gendered rights issues are identified and new ones are proposed. Finally, we argue that further gendering of children’s rights is necessary to acknowledge issues relating to children with different gender, sexual orientations and ethnicities.

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Children's rights and gender equality in Swedish parenting support: policy and practice

Journal of Family Studies ◽

10.1080/13229400.2018.1484379 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 1-16 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Lisa Eklund ◽

Åsa Lundqvist

Keyword(s):

Gender Equality ◽

Children's Rights ◽

Children’S Rights ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Parenting Support ◽

Support Policy ◽

And Gender

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The Violence of Postmodern "Gender Identity" Medicine

Dignity A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence ◽

10.23860/dignity.2021.06.03.08 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Heather Brunskell-Evans ◽

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

Identity Development ◽

Gender Identity ◽

Mental Health Professionals ◽

Gender Dysphoria ◽

Western Europe ◽

Children's Rights ◽

Hormone Treatment ◽

Children’S Rights ◽

The United Kingdom

The medical “transition” of children with “gender dysphoria” is increasingly normalized in North America, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Although each country has specific national gender identity development services, the rationale for prescribing hormone treatment is broadly similar. A minority rights paradigm underpinned by postmodern theory has gained traction in the past 10 years and has been successful in influencing public policy, the education of pediatricians, endocrinologists, and mental health professionals. In this view, any response other than an affirmation of the child’s claim to be the opposite sex or “born in the wrong body” is understood as a denial of their human rights to have their “outer” body match their authentic “inner” self. The postmodern paradigm has brought about a concomitant shift in the classification of the patient from a child who suffers “gender dysphoria” to a child who is “transgender”. Yet the practice of putting children on a medical pathway brings severe, life-long consequences including bone/skeletal impairment, cardiovascular and surgical complications, reduced sexual functioning, and infertility. Examination of postmodern “transgender” health care reveals it is rarely expert, evidenced-based or objective but on the contrary, is highly politicized and controversial. Although the High Court in the United Kingdom has ruled those children 16 years and under cannot consent to hormone treatment, several lobby groups, as well as the NHS Tavistock and Portman Hospital Trust Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), have been granted legal permission to challenge the ruling. With the example of the United Kingdom, I demonstrate that if the appeal is successful, children’s rights to protection from bodily and psychological harm will continue to be abused by the postmodern social justice paradigm which, in the very name of upholding children’s rights, violates them.

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Effects of Gender, Parental Role, and Time on Infant- and Adult-Directed Read and Spontaneous Speech

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2019_jslhr-s-19-0047 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 62 (11) ◽

pp. 4001-4014

Author(s):

Melanie Weirich ◽

Adrian Simpson

Keyword(s):

Parental Involvement ◽

Gender Identity ◽

Spontaneous Speech ◽

First Year ◽

Space Size ◽

Vowel Space ◽

Potential Impact ◽

Phonetic Features ◽

And Gender ◽

Description Task

Purpose The study sets out to investigate inter- and intraspeaker variation in German infant-directed speech (IDS) and considers the potential impact that the factors gender, parental involvement, and speech material (read vs. spontaneous speech) may have. In addition, we analyze data from 3 time points prior to and after the birth of the child to examine potential changes in the features of IDS and, particularly also, of adult-directed speech (ADS). Here, the gender identity of a speaker is considered as an additional factor. Method IDS and ADS data from 34 participants (15 mothers, 19 fathers) is gathered by means of a reading and a picture description task. For IDS, 2 recordings were made when the baby was approximately 6 and 9 months old, respectively. For ADS, an additional recording was made before the baby was born. Phonetic analyses comprise mean fundamental frequency (f0), variation in f0, the 1st 2 formants measured in /i: ɛ a u:/, and the vowel space size. Moreover, social and behavioral data were gathered regarding parental involvement and gender identity. Results German IDS is characterized by an increase in mean f0, a larger variation in f0, vowel- and formant-specific differences, and a larger acoustic vowel space. No effect of gender or parental involvement was found. Also, the phonetic features of IDS were found in both spontaneous and read speech. Regarding ADS, changes in vowel space size in some of the fathers and in mean f0 in mothers were found. Conclusion Phonetic features of German IDS are robust with respect to the factors gender, parental involvement, speech material (read vs. spontaneous speech), and time. Some phonetic features of ADS changed within the child's first year depending on gender and parental involvement/gender identity. Thus, further research on IDS needs to address also potential changes in ADS.

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