Advocacy Guide: Accessing justice for violations of children’s rights in care institutions

Date: 3rd April 2017
Category: Looked after children
Author: Child Rights International Network (CRIN)

CRIN have released a new guide detailing the legal and practical tools available to get redress for violations of children's rights in care institutions care in Eastern and Southeastern Europe and the Caucasus.

'When the State doesn't care' follows on from CRIN's global report on access to justice for children and focuses on if and how children in care institutions in the region are able to use the law to challenge violations of their rights.

Why access to justice?

Access to justice is a human right, but it is also what makes other rights a reality. For children's rights to be more than a promise, there must be a way for those rights to be enforced. In reality, access to justice is still an aspiration for most children, and this is even more so for children in care institutions.

Why children in care institutions?

Violations of children's rights in care and the need for deinstitutionalisation are not new. Many reports have emerged in the last few decades that reveal the neglect and abuse so many children have faced - and continue to face - in many countries. In some cases, the extent of the abuse is only revealed many years after the victims have grown up and left those institutions.

There are many factors that can explain why the abuse continues, starting with the need for legal and policy reform, accountability and human rights education. However, one factor that underlies the persistence of these violations is the lack of access to effective remedies: the inability to challenge these violations, get compensation for the victims and hold perpetrators accountable.

Who should use this report?

This guide explains which options are available to those seeking justice for children in care institutions across 11 countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. The guide analyses national, regional and international law and compiles the redress mechanisms available to victims of rights violations while they are in state care and after leaving these institutions.

CRIN welcomes:

• Comments on the guide;
• Additional information on the situation of children in state care;
• Enquiries about starting a new campaign;
• Ideas for further regional and international advocacy.

Please contact info@crin.org

• Access the full report and executive summary here.