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Fertility, reproductive health and development 2011, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Stresses that States should eliminate all forms of discrimination against the girl child and the root causes of son preference, which results in harmful and unethical practices regarding female infanticide and prenatal sex selection, increase public awareness of the value of the girl child, and concurrently, strengthen the girl child's self-image, self-esteem and status, and improve the welfare of the girl child, especially in regard to health, nutrition and education, and urges Governments to take the necessary measures to prevent infanticide, prenatal sex selection, trafficking in girl children and the use of girls in prostitution and pornography;
- Body
- Commission on Population and Development
- Document type
- Resolution
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 55e
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions adopt or amend legislation with a view to effectively addressing and eliminating harmful practices. In doing so, they should ensure:] That the legislation adequately addresses, including by providing the basis for the adoption of temporary special measures, the root causes of harmful practices, including discrimination on the basis of sex, gender, age and other intersecting factors, focuses on the human rights and needs of the victims and fully takes into account the best interests of children and women;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 55f
- Paragraph text
- [The Committees recommend that the States parties to the Conventions adopt or amend legislation with a view to effectively addressing and eliminating harmful practices. In doing so, they should ensure:] That a minimum legal age of marriage for girls and boys, with or without parental consent, is established at 18 years. When a marriage at an earlier age is allowed in exceptional circumstances, the absolute minimum age must not be below 16 years, the grounds for obtaining permission must be legitimate and strictly defined by law and the marriage must be permitted only by a court of law upon the full, free and informed consent of the child or both children, who must appear in person before the court;
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention of the Rights of the Child 2003, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- In light of articles 3, 6, 12, 19 and 24 (3) of the Convention, States parties should take all effective measures to eliminate all acts and activities which threaten the right to life of adolescents, including honour killings. The Committee strongly urges States parties to develop and implement awareness-raising campaigns, education programmes and legislation aimed at changing prevailing attitudes, and address gender roles and stereotypes that contribute to harmful traditional practices. Further, States parties should facilitate the establishment of multidisciplinary information and advice centres regarding the harmful aspects of some traditional practices, including early marriage and female genital mutilation.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Adolescents
- Children
- Year
- 2003
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- The present joint general recommendation/general comment should be read in conjunction with the relevant general recommendations and general comments issued by the Committees, in particular general recommendation No. 19 on violence against women, of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and general comment No. 8 on the right of the child to protection from corporal punishment and other cruel or degrading forms of punishment and general comment No. 13 on the right of the child to freedom from all forms of violence, of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. The content of general recommendation No. 14 on female circumcision, of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, is updated by the present joint general recommendation/general comment.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Female genital mutilation, female circumcision or female genital cutting is the practice of partially or wholly removing the external female genitalia or otherwise injuring the female genital organs for non-medical or non-health reasons. In the context of the present joint general recommendation/general comment, it is referred to as female genital mutilation. Female genital mutilation is performed in every region and, within some cultures, is a requirement for marriage and believed to be an effective method of controlling the sexuality of women and girls. It may have various immediate and/or long-term health consequences, including severe pain, shock, infections and complications during childbirth (affecting both the mother and the child), long-term gynaecological problems such as fistula, psychological effects and death. The World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund estimate that between 100 million and 140 million girls and women worldwide have been subjected to a type of female genital mutilation.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- Child marriage, also referred to as early marriage, is any marriage where at least one of the parties is under 18 years of age. The overwhelming majority of child marriages, both formal and informal, involve girls, although at times their spouses are also under 18 years of age. A child marriage is considered to be a form of forced marriage, given that one and/or both parties have not expressed full, free and informed consent. As a matter of respecting the child's evolving capacities and autonomy in making decisions that affect her or his life, a marriage of a mature, capable child below 18 years of age may be allowed in exceptional circumstances, provided that the child is at least 16 years of age and that such decisions are made by a judge based on legitimate exceptional grounds defined by law and on the evidence of maturity, without deference to culture and tradition.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- In some contexts, children are betrothed or married very young and, in many cases, young girls are forced to marry a man who may be decades older. In 2012, the United Nations Children's Fund reported that almost 400 million women between 20 and 49 years of age around the world had been married or had entered into a union before reaching 18 years of age. The Committees have therefore been paying particular attention to cases in which girls have been married against their full, free and informed consent, such as when they have been married too young to be physically and psychologically ready for adult life or to make conscious and informed decisions and thus not ready to consent to marriage. Other examples include cases in which guardians have the legal authority to consent to marriage of girls in accordance with customary or statutory law and in which girls are thus married contrary to the right to freely enter into marriage.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Youth
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- Child marriage is often accompanied by early and frequent pregnancy and childbirth, resulting in higher than average maternal morbidity and mortality rates. Pregnancy-related deaths are the leading cause of mortality for girls between 15 and 19 years of age, whether married or unmarried, around the world. Infant mortality among the children of very young mothers is higher (sometimes as much as two times higher) than among those of older mothers. In cases of child and/or forced marriage, in particular where the husband is significantly older than the wife, and where girls have limited education, the girls generally have limited decision-making power in relation to their own lives. Child marriage also contributes to higher rates of school dropout, especially among girls, forced exclusion from school and an increased risk of domestic violence, in addition to limiting the enjoyment of the right to freedom of movement.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- Myths about albinism include the belief that a child with albinism is a curse meted out on the mother or family of the child. It is also sometimes believed that children with albinism are the result of their family's or parent's evildoing and they are therefore considered a punishment to the whole family and community. In most cases, the blame for having a child with albinism is often attributed to the mother because the curse is believed to be matrilineal, transmitted by the mother's side of the family. There are also beliefs that women who give birth to children with albinism are unclean, or even in some cases witches. A similar myth is that the mother of a child with albinism stepped onto something evil, leading to a curse on the whole family.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Preliminary survey on the root causes of attacks and discrimination against persons with albinism 2016, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The lack of understanding of the condition is also illustrated by myths that persons with albinism cannot have children who do not have albinism, or that they are sterile. Furthermore, it is often believed that persons with albinism can only be found within one`s proximate race; consequently, the worldwide status of the condition is often not generally known. This narrow understanding of the frequency of albinism feeds into myths which present the condition as a particular problem supernaturally aimed at specific women and families.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Women
- Year
- 2016
Paragraph
Witchcraft and the human rights of persons with albinism 2017, para. 47
- Paragraph text
- Attacks against persons with albinism for the purpose of obtaining and using body parts in muti or juju as well as accusations of witchcraft match these criteria for harmful practices. In the publication on harmful practices issued by her Office, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children, quoting the UNICEF study, reported that "discrimination, violence and harmful practices against children with albinism have reached alarming proportions". She added that there were no cultural or religions justifications for such practices.
- Body
- Independent Expert on the enjoyment of human rights by persons with albinism
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
The right of the child to be heard 2009, para. 120
- Paragraph text
- Much of the violence perpetrated against children goes unchallenged both because certain forms of abusive behaviour are understood by children as accepted practices, and due to the lack of child-friendly reporting mechanisms. For example, they have no one to whom they can report in confidence and safety about experienced maltreatment, such as corporal punishment, genital mutilation or early marriage, and no channel to communicate their general observations to those accountable for implementation of their rights. Thus, effective inclusion of children in protective measures requires that children be informed about their right to be heard and to grow up free from all forms of physical and psychological violence. States parties should oblige all children's institutions to establish easy access to individuals or organizations to which they can report in confidence and safety, including through telephone helplines, and to provide places where children can contribute their experience and views on combating violence against children.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2009
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CRC) 2014, para. 35
- Paragraph text
- The implementation of any holistic strategy necessarily requires the provision of adequate organizational, human, technical and financial resources that are supplemented with appropriate measures and tools, such as regulations, policies, plans and budgets. In addition, States parties are obliged to ensure that an independent monitoring mechanism is in place to track progress in protecting women and children from harmful practices and in realizing their rights.
- Body
- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Rights of indigenous women and girls 2015, para. 54
- Paragraph text
- As discussed by the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences in her 2007 thematic report, culture-based identity politics can be used to justify violence against women in the name of traditional practices and/or values. Practices commonly carried out in the name of tradition, such as female gender mutilation and child marriage, impact some but not all indigenous communities. The fact that those traditional practices cut across religious, geographical and ethnic characteristics demonstrate that there are multidimensional causal factors and that no one factor attributed to the identity of women makes them vulnerable. Violations suffered by indigenous women and girls must be viewed within the context of the broad spectrum of violations experienced and their specific vulnerabilities as members of indigenous communities.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Ethnic minorities
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Study on illegal adoptions 2017, para. 52
- Paragraph text
- International commercial surrogacy is a growing phenomenon quickly overtaking the number of intercountry adoptions. The international regulatory vacuum that persists in relation to international commercial surrogacy arrangements leaves children born through this method vulnerable to breaches of their rights, and the practice often amounts to the sale of children and may lead to illegal adoption. Indeed, several countries do not recognize such arrangements and, in order to establish a parent-child relationship, national laws often require parents to legally adopt the child born through international commercial surrogacy. However, if the international commercial surrogacy arrangement is found to amount to the sale of a child, the adoption too will consequently be illegal under international standards. Such a situation underscores the need for States to ensure that they are not inadvertently legitimizing the sale of children born through international commercial surrogacy by granting adoption orders.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- In its resolution 66/140, the General Assembly reiterated its call for an end to harmful traditional or customary practices, such as early and forced marriage, and called upon States to take appropriate measures to address the root factors of child and forced marriages, including by undertaking educational activities to raise awareness regarding the negative aspects of such practices. It urged all States to enact and strictly enforce laws to ensure that marriage was entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses, and, in addition, to enact and strictly enforce laws concerning the minimum legal age of consent and the minimum age for marriage and raise the minimum age for marriage where necessary, and to develop and implement comprehensive policies, plans of action and programmes for the survival, protection, development and advancement of the girl child in order to promote and protect the full enjoyment of her human rights and to ensure equal opportunities for girls, including by making such plans an integral part of her total development process.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Education
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- The General Assembly also urged States to ensure that efforts to enact and implement legislation to end child and forced marriages engaged all stakeholders and agents of change and to ensure that the information on the legislation against the practice was well known and generated social support for the enforcement of such laws and legislation. States were urged to support community workshops and discussion sessions to enable communities to collectively explore ways to prevent and address child and forced marriages, provide information through stakeholders credible to the community, such as medical personnel and local, community and religious leaders, regarding the harm associated with those marriages, give greater voice to girls and ensure consistence of message throughout the entire community, and encourage the much-needed strong engagement of men and boys.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- Servile marriage affects both adults and children. Under international human rights law, a child cannot provide informed consent to a marriage. The marriage is therefore considered forced and falls under the slavery-like practices defined in the Convention. International human rights law, including the Convention, requires that a minimum age for marriage be established, with 18 years the recommended minimum age. The Special Rapporteur acknowledges that, in some countries, the minimum age for marriage is lower than 18 years. She also recognizes that, in some countries, exceptions are made for marriage below the national minimum age. The Special Rapporteur strongly urges that rigorous measures be taken in such situations to ensure that the rights of the child are in no way violated by marriage.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Servile marriage 2012, para. 34
- Paragraph text
- In 2005, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted resolution 1468 on forced marriages and child marriage. The Assembly defined forced marriage as "the union of two persons at least one of whom has not given their full consent to the marriage". It defined child marriage as "the union of two persons at least one of whom is under 18 years of age". Among other things, it urged the national parliaments of the Council of Europe member States to fix at or raise to 18 years the minimum statutory age of marriage for women and men, to make it compulsory for every marriage to be declared and entered by the competent authority in an official register, and to consider the possibility of dealing with acts of forced marriage as an independent criminal offence.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Men
- Women
- Year
- 2012
Paragraph
Children deprived of their liberty from the perspective of the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2015, para. 56
- Paragraph text
- One of the most egregious forms of abuse in health and social care settings is unique to children. Numerous studies have documented that a child's healthy development depends on the child's ability to form emotional attachments to a consistent care-giver. Children need more than physical sustenance; they also require emotional companionship and attention to flourish. Unfortunately, this fundamental need for connection is consistently not met in many institutions, leading to self-abuse, including children banging their head against walls or poking their eyes. In reaction, care-givers use physical restraints as a long-term solution, or hold the children in cages or their beds, practices that have been linked to muscular atrophy and skeletal deformity.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Violence against women as a barrier to the effective realization of all human rights 2014, para. 30
- Paragraph text
- Violence against women impairs and nullifies the right of women and girls to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Gender-based violence, such as intimate partner violence, sexual violence, female genital mutilation or other harmful traditional practices, forced and child marriage or cohabitation, gender-related killings, trafficking, infanticide and deliberate neglect of girls, have a severe impact on women's and girls' physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health. As stated by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, violence against women puts women's health and lives at risk. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights notes that the right to health includes both freedoms and entitlements, including the right to control one's health and body, inclusive of sexual and reproductive freedom, and the right to be free from interference, such as the right to be free from non-consensual medical treatment and experimentation (E/C.12/2000/4, para. 8).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2011, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Around the globe, law reform for children's protection from violence is gaining momentum. When the United Nations study was finalized, only 16 countries had legislation prohibiting violence in all settings, including corporal punishment in the home. Currently, 29 countries have introduced such a comprehensive legal ban. In all regions, legislative reform initiatives are under way to achieve full prohibition, and in several other countries, new legislation is under review to prohibit violence in specific settings. In some cases, a monitoring system has been developed to advance implementation. In countries where harmful practices persist behind deeply entrenched traditions, the legislative process has provided opportunities to involve community and religious leaders, parliamentarians, professional associations, academic institutions and grass-roots organizations, and to engage communities concerned to promote change from within and consolidate prevention efforts.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2011
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2014, para. 41a
- Paragraph text
- [In some countries, important legislative initiatives have addressed violence against children with albinism and those accused of witchcraft, criminalizing harmful practices and issuing protective measures to secure children's safety and protection. Legislation is, however, insufficient to change superstition and deeply rooted beliefs. To ensure the protection of these children, the Special Representative has called for a comprehensive strategy highlighting, the following measures:] Supporting the protective role of the family. Parents and members of the extended family play a central role in the care and protection of children and need to be sensitized and supported in their child-rearing responsibilities. To address the social and economic drivers of violence against children with albinism or accused of witchcraft, it is critical to provide basic social services of quality to families concerned, to promote child development, well-being and effective protection, and to prevent children's exposure to harm.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Families
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Harmful practices (joint General Recommendation with CEDAW) 2014, para. 53
- Paragraph text
- The best interests of the child and the protection of the rights of girls and women should always be taken into consideration and the necessary conditions must be in place to enable them to express their point of view and ensure that their opinions are given due weight. Careful consideration should also be given to the potential short-term and long-term impact on children or women of the dissolution of child and/or forced marriages and the return of dowry payments and bride prices.
- Body
- Committee on the Rights of the Child
- Document type
- General Comment / Recommendation
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Eliminating discrimination against women in cultural and family life, with a focus on the family as a cultural space 2015, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of the Child have noted that harmful practices affecting women and girls are deeply rooted in social attitudes according to which women and girls are regarded as inferior to men and boys based on stereotyped roles. They highlight the gender dimension to violence and indicate that sex- and gender-based attitudes and stereotypes, power imbalances, inequalities and discrimination perpetuate the widespread existence of practices that often involve violence or coercion. They maintain that the nature and prevalence of these practices vary according to region and culture. These practices cause serious harm to every aspect of the lives of the women and girls who fall victim to them and include incest, female genital mutilation, early and/or forced marriage, so-called "honour crimes", dowry-related violence, neglect of girls, extreme dietary restrictions, virginity tests, servitude, stoning, violent initiation rites, widowhood practices and female infanticide. The obligations set out in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child form the basis for the elaboration of a global strategy to eliminate harmful practices, which should be well defined, rights-based, have local relevance and comprise legal, economic and social support measures combined with proportional political engagement and State responsibility at all levels.
- Body
- Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and practice
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Boys
- Children
- Girls
- Women
- Year
- 2015
Paragraph
Reflection on a 6-year tenure as Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography 2014, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Illegal adoption is also an extremely hidden phenomenon. However, a review of the situation of intercountry adoption points to heightened risks of illegal adoption due to the conjunction of various factors. Existing records suggest that there has been an increase in intercountry adoptions worldwide between 2000 and 2004, followed by a significant decrease. Demand for adoption has continued to increase, while supply decreases, creating the conditions for abuse, corruption, excessive fees amounting to the sale of children, and the illegal adoption of children.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, including child prostitution, child pornography and other child sexual abuse material
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Harmful Practices
- Movement
- Social & Cultural Rights
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2014
Paragraph
Certain forms of abuses in health-care settings that may cross a threshold of mistreatment that is tantamount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment 2013, para. 77
- Paragraph text
- Children who are born with atypical sex characteristics are often subject to irreversible sex assignment, involuntary sterilization, involuntary genital normalizing surgery, performed without their informed consent, or that of their parents, "in an attempt to fix their sex", leaving them with permanent, irreversible infertility and causing severe mental suffering.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Health
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
SRSG on violence against children: Annual report 2013, para. 70
- Paragraph text
- Another significant gap revealed by the survey is the dearth of data on laws, policies and advocacy on the gender dimensions of violence and the legal protection of girls: 40 per cent of the respondents provide no information on this question and less than 30 per cent mention positive initiatives. Legislation in the area remains a challenge, with less than half of Governments indicating the enactment of a legal ban on harmful practices, which may fully or only partially cover female genital mutilation/cutting, child or forced marriage, witchcraft rituals, honour killings and other practices.
- Body
- Special Representative of the Secretary-General on violence against children
- Document type
- SRSG report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Gender
- Harmful Practices
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2013
Paragraph
Elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child 2007, para. 14.9.h
- Paragraph text
- [The Commission [...] urges Governments [...] to:] [14.9. Violence and discrimination] (h) Eliminate all forms of discrimination against the girl child and the root causes of son preference, which results in harmful and unethical practices regarding female infanticide and prenatal sex selection, which may have significant repercussions on society as a whole;
- Body
- Commission on the Status of Women
- Document type
- CSW Agreed Conclusions / Declaration
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Harmful Practices
- Person(s) affected
- Children
- Girls
- Year
- 2007
Paragraph