Title: Children's Rights to Equality: Protection Versus Paternalism
Abstract: The idea of according equality rights to children is a relatively recent phenomenon. Historically, society did not accord children rights; children were subject to the unregulated, unscrutinized, unchallenged private power of their parents, especially their fathers. Recently, children's advocates have maintained that children have rights that should be recognized and respected in the system. Martha Minow, for example, has reviewed the debates about whether we should recognize children's rights. She rejects the view that rights are limited to claims made by autonomous adult individuals for independence and freedom. Instead, Minow explains how rights arise in the context of relationships among people who are themselves interdependent and mutually defining, thus making them more relevant to children's lives. In essence, they can be understood as determining the legal consequences for particular patterns of human and institutional relationships. Children's rights may take the form of claims for autonomy and noninterference; they may, however, entail claims for care and protection, or claims for relationships with others.
Publication Year: 1992
Publication Date: 1992-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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