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This article aims to show that multidimensional child poverty (MCP) is determined by several socioeconomic factors that influence the formation of stratified groups of poor children under five years of age living in Central America. This study advocates for a comprehensive set of children's rights with the purpose of addressing the different facets of child poverty from the perspective of child well-being, in order to estimate the incidence of MCP, by including multiple childhood deprivations and socioeconomic determinants. Child-specific indicators and household deprivation indicators are considered in the estimation of MCP. The study also states that child poverty is a complex concept, which includes the various types of deprivations experienced by children in the Central American societies and their deprivations are considered as the denial of children's rights. Therefore, the MCP is estimated based on a conditional latent class analysis that includes not only manifest deprivation variables, but also socioeconomic determinants that help to better predict the incidence and probabilities of children being multidimensionally poor according to different poverty strata. The socioeconomic factors that show high risks of MCP are rural areas, indigenous children, young mothers and low levels of education attained by the head of the household, among others. One of the reasons to investigate the MCP for Belize and El Salvador is because there are few studies that address this problem for these countries and this research sheds light on the characteristics of early childhood poverty. The results indicate that the incidence of MCP is 49% in Belize and 76% in El Salvador. The research work concludes that the International Rights of the Child provide the opportunity to implement comprehensive social policies in Central America to eradicate child poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims at estimating multidimensional poverty groups among children under five years of age in Mexico. Our analysis is based upon the framework on the Rights of the Child. For this purpose, we focus on identifying different types of child deprivation and the various risk factors that determine child poverty in Mexico, such as the type of locality, ethnicity and the region of Mexico where children live, among others. The study is based on the theoretical notion that children must realize their specific rights, established in the Mexican legal framework, in order to achieve an adequate standard of living and guarantee the well-being and development of children. For this reason, child development has been included as one of the analytical dimensions of poverty, because this has been often discarded in child poverty studies. We support the idea that any violation of social rights means deprivation. The method applied in this research is a conditional latent class analysis and we use covariates which have helped for better predicting the average probabilities of experiencing deprivations in each latent class. Thus, the main objective of the study is to identify groups of children experiencing extreme, moderate and no poverty. The results show that children under five years in Mexico, belonging to the poorest stratum have represented about twenty percent; however, fifty percent of them have experienced moderate poverty and only thirty percent are non-poor. We conclude that universal and targeted policies should be implemented to eradicate multidimensional child poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly-victimization, or exposure to multiple types of victimization, is particularly common among children and adolescents. This study uses Lifestyle-Routine Activity Theory and Target Congruence Theory to examine distinct subgroups of Korean youth who have experienced poly-victimization through the estimation of a latent class analysis. This study uses a nationally representative sample—the 2018 National Survey on the Rights of Children and Youth (N = 9,060, Grades 4–12). Results found four distinct subgroups of Korean youth who have experienced violent victimization: low risk/non-victims (54.1%), poly-victims (4.1%), verbal bullying victims (10.5%), and victims of parental abuse (31.3%). Distal outcomes such as suicidality and dropout were also examined regarding victimization experiences. Policy implications such as detecting victimization and early intervention/prevention programs are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ILA Study Group began its work by identifying guiding principles that should frame and inform state practices with respect to children in migration. These principles included, but were not limited to, non-discrimination; the best interests of the child; the right to life, survival, and development; the right of the child to express their views on all matters affecting them; and the right to an effective remedy. The Study Group identified some of the most common rights violations for children in migration such as arbitrary age assessment practices; inadequate and age-inappropriate reception policies and facilities; and immigration detention of children and other coercive practices. The Study Group undertook a multidisciplinary approach by summarizing the research documenting the harmful effects of these practices on child health and well-being. It surveyed (1) treaties and international instruments that might recognize a right or remedy for children on the move; (2) regional and international fora where the claims of children could be heard; and (3) the growing body of regional and international jurisprudence upholding the rights of children in migration. Finally, it identified gaps in the international and regional frameworks and formulated recommendations as to how to ensure children in migration are able to enforce their rights and access justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children are among the few social groups that are systematically and universally disenfranchised. Although children are citizens worthy of equal moral treatment and rights, their right to vote is restricted in almost all states, and this is seen as legitimate by most democratic theories. What is particular about childhood that justifies the restriction of their right to vote? How can democratic systems legitimise the exclusion of a section of their citizenry? This article provides a critical analysis of the principles that ground child disenfranchisement, and of the allocative mechanisms proposed for restricting the right to vote. It shows that most arguments in favour of child disenfranchisement are unsatisfactory, as they are inconsistently used to target the child population (but not other groups) or are incompatible with a commitment to equality. Among the principles for child disenfranchisement, only those that appeal to political incompetence may be valid for excluding children. Regarding the allocative method of exclusion, this article shows that age thresholds cannot be justified to restrict franchise, and that, while competence tests fare better in theory, there may be issues of implementation. The article contributes by providing a clear and systematic analysis of the core arguments in favour of child disenfranchisement, and the conditions that must be met to justify such a practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In line with the legal duty to monitor the compliance of policy and practice with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Netherlands' Ombudsman for Children collects data concerning children's views about their rearing environment and well-being. This Children's Rights Monitor uses the Best Interests of the Child Self-Report (BIC-S). The psychometric properties of the BIC-S need to be further investigated. Method: For the 2018 Children's Rights Monitor, 1639 children (age: M = 12.05 SD = 2.70) completed the BIC-S (quality of rearing environment) and value their life on a scale of 1 to 10 (well-being). Mokken Scale Analysis was applied to determine the construct validity, and a Pearson correlation coefficient between well-being and the quality of rearing environment was used to determine the convergent validity of the BIC-S. Results: The results of the Mokken Scale Analysis reveal an invariant, strong, and reliable family scale (H = 0.60; Rho = 0.88) and an invariant, moderate, and reliable society scale (H = 0.45; Rho = 0.81). Two conditions (safe wider physical environment and adequate examples in society) should be viewed as separate items. Strong and significant correlations are observed between well-being, on the one hand, and the family and society scales on the other (respectively, r = 0.54 and 0.63). Implications: Results of this study point to a reliable and valid BIC-S for measuring the quality of the rearing environment. This instrument can be used to bring policy, practice, and decision-making in line with Children's Rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the cross-national and cross-temporal variation in the presence or absence of domestic compliance gaps for three different human rights: the right to a fair trial, children's rights, and the right of workers to form unions. Besides constitutional provisions, which have been the focus of previous research on the de jure-de facto compliance gap, statutes, executive actions, and judicial decisions all can contain promises by domestic politicians to protect human rights. Our indicator of whether legal protection exists and how strong it is reflects the many ways states make human rights legal commitments to their citizens. Our findings show that (a) the probability of promise-keeping and the effects of combinations of accountability and capacity are different for each right; (b) strong laws are a necessary but not sufficient condition for effective protection of rights; (c) treaty participation does not affect the probability of promise-keeping for any right; (d) promise-keeping for one right predicted promise-keeping for other rights. For all rights, the number of countries with gaps grew between 1994 and 2008 and then declined between 2008 and 2019. An important inference from our findings is that international treaties may only be effective when ratifiers are willing to change their domestic laws to be consistent with international norms. One counterintuitive policy implication of our findings is that democratizing low-capacity authoritarian states may lead to more violations of some human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the onset, it was clear that the impact of the global economic and social crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was unlikely to affect all children equally. Thus, it was necessary to ascertain the impact of COVID-19 on child poverty as the events unfolded. Many of the indirect effects of the pandemic – disruptions to health services, delayed vaccination programmes, widespread school closures, and increases in food insecurity – have significant impacts on the realisation of children's rights and, consequently, were expected to increase material deprivations across different dimensions. The question was by how much? In this article we explain the modelling and methodological approach to project or nowcast the answer to that question. The method is dynamic as it was revised as additional information emerged during 2020 and 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to international regulations, unaccompanied minor status determination implies a different set of rights, needs and entitlements than migrant adults. In forensic scenarios, the age assessment of refugee and asylum seekers who do not have reliable documentation is based on the application of different medical and non-medical methods. A multidisciplinary and holistic approach based on a gradual implementation of these methods is recommended worldwide. Many healthcare professionals consider medical age assessment, especially when performed through radiology, highly intrusive and ethically questionable because it is conducted without medical or therapeutic benefits. About dental examination, the evaluation of the third molar development can provide very useful information on the crucial age limit of 18 years. Demirjian's scoring system and the third molar maturity index (I3 M) developed by Cameriere et al. (2008) are the two most common quantitative methods for dental age estimation. An ethical evaluation of the dental age estimation performed by these radiological methods through the four principles of biomedical ethics (autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence and justice) is discussed here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attachment theory and research are drawn upon in many applied settings, including family courts, but misunderstandings are widespread and sometimes result in misapplications. The aim of this consensus statement is, therefore, to enhance understanding, counter misinformation, and steer family-court utilisation of attachment theory in a supportive, evidence-based direction, especially with regard to child protection and child custody decision-making. The article is divided into two parts. In the first, we address problems related to the use of attachment theory and research in family courts, and discuss reasons for these problems. To this end, we examine family court applications of attachment theory in the current context of the best-interest-of-the-child standard, discuss misunderstandings regarding attachment theory, and identify factors that have hindered accurate implementation. In the second part, we provide recommendations for the application of attachment theory and research. To this end, we set out three attachment principles: the child's need for familiar, non-abusive caregivers; the value of continuity of good-enough care; and the benefits of networks of attachment relationships. We also discuss the suitability of assessments of attachment quality and caregiving behaviour to inform family court decision-making. We conclude that assessments of caregiver behaviour should take center stage. Although there is dissensus among us regarding the use of assessments of attachment quality to inform child custody and child-protection decisions, such assessments are currently most suitable for targeting and directing supportive interventions. Finally, we provide directions to guide future interdisciplinary research collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]