INFANTS RIGHTS
THE RIGHTS OF INFANTS
CHILD RIGHTS
CHILDREN RIGHTS
November 20th
Children’s rights Day
The Rights of Infants
Woman. Ask the she-bears, and every she-monster, and they
will tell you what the rights of every species of young are.
They will tell you, in resolute language and actions too,
that their rights extend to a full participation of the
fruits of the earth.
They will tell you, and vindicate it likewise by deeds,
that mothers have a right, at the peril of all opposers,
to provide from the elements the proper nourishments of
their young.
Seeing this, shall we be asked what the Rights of Infants are?
As if they had no rights?
As if they were excrescences and abortions of nature?
As if they had not a right to the milk of our breasts?
Nor we a right to any food to make milk of?
As if they had not a right to good nursing, to cleanliness,
to comfortable cloathing and lodging?
Villains! Why do you ask that aggravating question?
Have not the foxes holes, and the birds of the air nests, and
shall the children of men have not where to lay their heads?
Have brute-mothers a right to eat grass, and the food they
like best, to engender milk in their dugs, for the nourishment
of their young and shall the mothers of infants be denied such
a right?
Is not this earth our common also, as well as it is the common
of brutes?
May we not eat herbs, berries, or nuts as well as other creatures?
Have we not a right to hunt and prowl for prey with she-wolves?
And have we not a right to fish with she-otters? Or may we not
dig coals or cut wood for fuel?
Nay, does nature provide a luxuriant and abundant feast for all
her numerous tribes of animals except us?
As if sorrow were our portion alone, and as if we and our helpless
babes came into this world only to weep over each other?
Some general rights applicable to children include:
the right to life.
the right to security of person.
the right to freedom from torture.
the right to freedom from cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment.
the right to be separated from adults when charged with
a crime, the right to speedy adjudication, and the right
to be accorded treatment appropriate to their age.
Children's rights includes:
their right to association with both parents,
human identity as well as the basic needs for
physical protection,
food,
universal state-paid education,
health care,
criminal laws appropriate for the age and
development of the child,
equal protection of the child's civil rights,
freedom from discrimination on the basis of
the child's race,
gender,
sexual orientation,
gender identity,
national origin,
religion,
disability,
color,
ethnicity, or other characteristics
Interpretations of children's rights range from allowing
children the capacity for autonomous action to the
enforcement of children being physically, mentally and
emotionally free from abuse, though what constitutes
"abuse" is a matter of debate. Other definitions include
the rights to care and nurturing.
Children’s rights: human rights
Children’s rights are human rights. They protect the child
as a human being. As human rights, children’s rights are
constituted by fundamental guarantees and essential human
rights:
•Children’s rights recognize fundamental guarantees to all
human beings: the right to life, the non-discrimination
principle, the right to dignity through the protection of
physical and mental integrity (protection against slavery,
torture and bad treatments, etc.)
•Children’s rights are civil and political rights, such as
the right to identity, the right to a nationality, etc.
•Children’s rights are economic, social and cultural rights,
such as the right to education, the right to a decent standard
of living, the right to health, etc.
•Children’s rights include individual rights: the right to live
with his parents, the right to education, the right to benefit
from a protection, etc.
•Children’s rights include collective rights: rights of refugee
and disabled children, of minority children or from autochtonous
groups.
Recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment
of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall
strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of
access to such health care services”.
Measures:
(a) To diminish infant and child mortality;
(b) To ensure the provision of necessary medical assistance and
health care to all children with emphasis on the development of
primary health care;
(c) To combat disease and malnutrition, including within the
framework of primary health care, through, inter alia, the
application of readily available technology and through the
provision of adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking-water,
taking into consideration the dangers and risks of environmental
pollution;
(d) To ensure appropriate pre-natal and post-natal health care
for mothers;
(e) To ensure that all segments of society, in particular parents
and children, are informed, have access to education and are
supported in the use of basic knowledge of child health and nutrition,
the advantages of breastfeeding, hygiene and environmental sanitation
and the prevention of accidents;
(f) To develop preventive health care, guidance for parents and family
planning education and services.”
If these rights were to be fulfilled, child survival rates would rapidly
improve.
Rights
Social and economic rights relate to guaranteeing individuals a
minimum standard of living, such as a minimum income, housing,
health care, and education.
Cultural rights relate to the recognition and safeguarding of
ethnic/religious groups' practices and beliefs.
Civil rights relate to personal freedoms, such as the right to
privacy, freedom of movement, and right to a fair trial.
Political rights relate to political participation, such as the
right to vote and the right to peaceful assembly.
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