State obligation in alternative care

Lang niet elke kind krijgt de zorg en bescherming die ze nodig hebben om veilig op te groeien in een (private en of publieke) zorginstelling. Rapporten en onderzoeken uit verschillende landen hebben aangetoond dat kinderen in zorginstellingen kwetsbaarder zijn voor mishandeling door verzorgers die verantwoordelijk zijn voor hun veiligheid en welzijn.

Artikel 19 van het Kinderrechtenverdrag (hierna: IVRK) is één van de belangrijkste artikelen die kinderen beschermt tegen allerlei vormen van geweld. Landen die het Kinderrechtenverdrag hebben geratificeerd, hebben de verplichting op zich genomen om de rechten die voortvloeien uit dit verdrag te implementeren. Dit betekent dat landen adequate maatregelen moeten nemen om de implementatie van het verdrag op een effectieve manier te kunnen verwezenlijken. 


Het doel van dit onderzoek is om inzichtelijk te maken wat de uitdagingen zijn waarmee landen geconfronteerd worden om kinderen die in zorginstellingen verblijven te beschermen tegen geweld en in hoeverre landen in staat zijn om hun verplichtingen onder artikel 19 IVRK na te komen.

Hieronder kunt u het onderzoek teruglezen in het Engels.

One would assume that alternative care institutions have been established to provide care and protection to children. However, reports from many countries demonstrate children living in these institutions often deal with violence by staff, that should be responsible for their well-being. Article 19 CRC is one of the most important articles with regard to protecting children in alternative care institutions against violence. The implementation of this provision nevertheless suffers from some defects, which cause a barrier in achieving protection from all forms of violence against children including children living in alternative care institutions. The effective implementation of article 19 CRC after all plays an essential role in creating a violence free environment for children.

The aim of this thesis is to understand the challenges states are facing to respect, protect and fulfill their obligations under article 19 CRC, specifically in alternative care institutions. In this regard the thesis analyses which responsibilities states should shoulder in order to protect children living in alternative care institutions against violence.   

Article 19 (1) CRC states that “legislative, administrative, social and educational measures need to be taken to protect the child from all forms of violence while in the care of  legal guardian(s) or any other person(s)”. Most states are hardly successful in taking these measures. The practice of judicial and quasi-judicial bodies against the background of the state obligation to respect, protect and fulfill the rights of children has also been looked into in order to find out if states adequately protect the rights of children to be free from violence in alternative care institutions. Concerning the obligation to respect, most states fail to hire or supervise suitable and qualified professionals, who are responsible for the care of children, or fail to recognize violence against children. Concerning the obligation to protect, the progress whereby corporal punishment in alternative care institutions is prohibited, has been slow in the majority of states. This means those states have not sufficiently displayed due diligence and therefore have failed to protect children against violence committed by non-state actors. Finally, concerning the obligation to fulfill, the majority of states is not successful in providing an adequate legal framework to ensure the protection of children against violence nor in conducting an effective investigation mechanism into instances of violence against children in alternative care institutions.

The full thesis can be found here.

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