scholarly journals Young People’s Rights and Mental Health During a Pandemic: An Analysis of the Impact of Emergency Legislation in Scotland

Young ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (4_suppl) ◽  
pp. S11-S34
Author(s):  
Christina McMellon ◽  
A. MacLachlan

Emerging evidence indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic and government measures put in place in response to this have had a detrimental impact on young people’s mental health. A children’s human rights-based approach was taken to examine the impact of the legislative and policy measures that were implemented in Scotland in response to the pandemic on children’s rights related to their mental health. Key concerns were identified around children’s rights to access mental health services and information, participation in decision-making and non-discrimination of vulnerable groups. Although the analysis focussed on Scotland, recommendations to protect these rights are likely to be relevant to other countries following similar approaches as lockdown restrictions are eased, or in the event that stricter local or national measures are required again to curb rising infection rates or subsequent wave(s).

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-120
Author(s):  
T N Sithole ◽  
Kgothatso B Shai

Awareness of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW 1979) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC 1989) is relatively high within academic and political circles in South Africa and elsewhere around the world. In South Africa, this can be ascribed mainly to the powerful women’s lobby movements represented in government and academic sectors. Women and children’s issues have been especially highlighted in South Africa over the last few years. In this process, the aforementioned two international human rights instruments have proved very useful. There is a gender desk in each national department. The Office on the Status of Women and the Office on Child Rights have been established within the Office of the President, indicating the importance attached to these institutions. These offices are responsible for co-ordinating governmental efforts towards the promotion and protection of women and children’s rights respectively, including the two relevant treaties. Furthermore, there is also a great awareness amongst non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in respect of CEDAW and CRC. This can be ascribed mainly to the fact that there is a very strong women’s NGO lobby and NGOs are actively committed to the promotion of children’s rights. Women are increasingly vocal and active within the politics of South Africa, but the weight of customary practices remains heavy. The foregoing is evident of the widening gap between policy theory and practice in the fraternity of vulnerable groups – children and women in particular.


Author(s):  
Pavlo Parkhomenko

The entry of a child into the sphere of justice, regardless of its status, requires the creation of such conditions that would minimize the possibility of the impact of negative factors in the process of administering justice on the child himself. In this regard, one of the effective and important elements in the child-friendly justice system may be the organization of a special courtroom, which would be adapted to hear cases involving a child, which is not widely used in national practice and does not have the appropriate legal regulation in general. In addition, to date, there are no studies that would reflect the problems of organizing a courtroom, in which it is possible to try different categories of cases with the participation of the child. The article attempts to conduct a theoretical and legal study of existing international standards and national legal regulation of the organization of child-friendly courtrooms, identifying the basic elements for its creation, through which it is possible to formulate basic approaches to the administration of child-friendly justice. The author stressed that international standards refer to the components of child-friendly justice, including the issue of creating the most comfortable conditions for the child in the courtroom and directly during the hearing. To substantiate the conclusions, we analyzed the national case law and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, which demonstrates cases of violation of children's rights by not creating appropriate conditions for the trial of children, and emphasizes the importance of the situation in which the trial took place. from litigation involving adults. Positive practices of organization of special courtrooms in some courts of Ukraine are given. Based on the analysis, it was found that the issue of arranging a courtroom friendly to children has no legislative and departmental regulations, in connection with which proposed ways to address the legislative gap in this direction and guidelines for organizing a special courtroom, which is positively assessed. Рrovided children who were invited to court and who had the opportunity to compare the general courtroom and the special. Keywords: international standards, children's rights, child-friendly justice, child interview, courtroom.


2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-127
Author(s):  
Olga Martin-Ortega ◽  
Rebecca M M Wallace

The consideration of the role of the private business sector with regards to the fulfilment of children’s rights is relatively recent. International attention on the effects of business activities have on children has been fragmented until now, focussing on specific sectors, mainly child labour and economic exploitation. Recent international developments, addressed both to states and business enterprises, propose a more comprehensive approach. This article focuses on two of them: the UNICEF-Global Compact and Save the Children Children’s Rights and Business Principles (CRB Principles), launched in May 2012, and the Committee on the Rights of the Child’s General Comment No. 16 on state obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights, published in April 2013.  Both documents represent an important step in the consolidation of an international agenda for the protection of the rights of the child that takes into account the different challenges faced by children in the current economic system.


2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 231-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Baker ◽  
Louise L Clark

It is impossible to predict or comprehend the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The UK Government's advice for vulnerable people, including older adults, to move towards self-isolation and social distancing is likely to reduce rates of transmission, the risk of severe illness and the impact on the acute health services. Although justified and necessary, this process of isolation is likely to have a negative impact on the mental health of these vulnerable groups, especially older people. It will become increasingly important for community health professionals to assess subtle changes in older persons' mental health, as the duration of this period of isolation remains unclear. The biopsychopharmacosocial model provides one method of assessing mental health and planning health and social care needs. This article hopes to guide community health professionals through the specifics of this assessment model in relation to the growing COVID-19 pandemic.


Author(s):  
den Cruyce Nele Van

Background: Disease outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic give rise to high levels of psychological distress in people worldwide. Since this is the first pandemic of its kind, the best available evidence is needed on what psychological needs could be expected during and after the pandemic. Objectives: In this scoping review existing research on traumatogenic events is examined in order to identify the potential impact on mental health of the COVID pandemic. The research findings are organized using the the phases of disaster response model. Results: A total of 34 longitudinal studies, 2 studies with multiple waves of data collection and 92 cross-sectional studies met the inclusion criteria. The studies included in this scoping review could be classified as: 87 studies on COVID-19, 2 on SARS, 19 on wars, 19 on terrorist attacks and 1 on a nuclear accident. Results indicate that stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, insomnia, denial, anger, grief and fear can be anticipated as common reactions. The longer a pandemic continues, the higher the psychological strain is expected to be. Conclusions: The phases of response to disaster model offers a valid frame to unravel the impact of the pandemic on mental health over time. Specific attention must be given to vulnerable groups, whereby specific risk factors include age, gender, pre-existing mental health problems, healthcare profession, migration background, isolation and low socio economic status. However, these may change over time, and a delayed manifestation of psychosocial problems needs to be considered too. Mental health governance is, therefore, warranted throughout and even up to 6 months after the pandemic.


Author(s):  
Priyanka Aswal ◽  
Parvesh Singh

Background: Ever since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, education institutions in the entire country were shut down. This shutdown of universities caused the students to stay at home which caused a detrimental impact on their mental health.Methods: This survey-based study aims to decipher the impact the lockdown has caused on the mental well-being of the students. The survey was conducted through a set of online questionnaires.Results: The results of the study show that the students suffered from various psychological problems. Anxiety and stress were the most prevalent amongst mental illnesses and were reportedly increased due to uncertainty about future prospects like job and graduation.Conclusions: The study confirms that the pandemic has had a negative impact on the psychological health of the patients and has amplified stress and fear amongst them. 


Author(s):  
Sandra Winkler

In emergency situations, the people most affected are often those who are already vulnerable, and this certainly includes children. The “new normal” we are living in to defend ourselves against this tiny yet dangerous enemy has serious repercussions on children’s lives. This becomes even more evident if we think of those children who are doubly vulnerable – they are even more fragile because they live in conditions of particular hardship when they live outside their family, have a disability, or live in poverty. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have witnessed the proliferation of numerous initiatives by various national and international children’s rights institutions, which have called for urgent measures to protect children’s rights. At this precise moment, the concept of the child’s best interests is also reinterpreted as a result of a reasonable compression of certain children’s rights and the prevalence of others. The present paper will attempt an analytical reconstruction of children’s fundamental rights by analyzing how these rights have changed during the pandemic. In fact, it is necessary to know if and/or how much have the rights of minors changed as a result of the emergency. The second part of the paper is dedicated to the question of which children’s rights will be most compromised or changed in the post-Covid-19 era. In reflecting on the inevitable consequences that the pandemic will leave on the delicate balance of the development of children’s rights, the author will offer some proposals on how to contain the encountered difficulties.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gretchen Good ◽  
Awhina Hollis-English ◽  
Ally Attwell ◽  
Anna Dickson ◽  
Anita Gibbs ◽  
...  

How do mothers of disabled children navigate the roles of advocate and activist? This paper reflects on the experiences of mothers of disabled children, exploring the impact upon families who take on responsibilities for working for disabled children’s rights. It is from these experiences that, as mothers, we join other activists and academics in the growing radical disability rights movement. The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the labour of advocate mothers and to tell our stories of success. We also aim to provide recommendations to mothers, fathers, families, schools, academic communities and those invested in social justice, to work toward future positive action on behalf of disabled children.  


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