Doctor Legum - LLD / The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is the latest human rights treaty at the UN level. The process leading to the adoption called attention to the plight of persons with disabilities, and redefined approaches to issues of disability. Fundamentally, the CRPD embodies a paradigm shift in thinking about disability. It embraces the social model of disability, in terms of which disability is a function of the interaction between a person with impairment and his or her environment as opposed to an inherent limitation of functioning. The social model is, in turn, anchored in a human rights approach to disability. No doubt, the adoption of the CRPD triggered immense optimism for the realization of the rights of persons with disabilities. One of the rights recognised under the CRPD is the right to education. Article 24(1) of the CRPD recognises the right of persons with disabilities to education and sets out the aims of such education. Article 24(2) sets out a number of principles to guide the implementation of the right. These include: non-exclusion from the general education system including non-exclusion of children with disabilities from free and compulsory primary education; access to inclusive quality and free primary education on an equal basis with other children in the communities in which children with disabilities live; reasonable accommodation of a student’s needs; provision of support necessary to facilitate effective education; and provision of individualised support measures in environments that maximise academic and social development of the students with disabilities. It is generally accepted that the right to education is one of the most essential rights, particularly in light of its empowerment function that helps to facilitate the exercise of other rights. The primary level of education has particularly attained global recognition and priority in resource allocation and implementation. Primary education contributes significantly to the maximum development of the full human potential of children. There are therefore differentiated obligations for the right to primary education in international human rights. Nevertheless, there are still significant barriers to access to primary education, particularly in the African region. While children with disabilities have been excluded from education for a long time the world over, their exclusion in the African context is particularly endemic. The core purpose of this thesis is to determine how article 24(2) of the CRPD affects or is likely to affect primary education of children with disabilities, particularly in the context of developing countries. The focus of the enquiry is mainly the law and policy in this regard. The subject spans three main spheres of rights: children’s rights, socioeconomic rights (particularly the right to education), and finally disability rights. Children’s rights, especially since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), are generally accepted. The right to education also has a long standing history, and whereas debate regarding the appropriate approaches to its implementation still abides, there is apparent normative and jurisprudential consensus on some aspects thereof, particularly at the primary education level. It is essential to determine the relational framework of these spheres with the disability rights established under the CRPD. The thesis finds that the CRPD does in fact redefine the parameters of the right to education as previously understood in international human rights instruments. Particularly, the expanded aims of education under article 24 call for education systems that recognise non-academic learning, such as the development of the talents or creativity of the learner. This provision is particularly significant to the child with disabilities. Also, while not establishing an entirely new right, the principles under article 24(2) establish actionable sub-entitlements that enhance the justiciability right to education for children with disabilities. However, it is apparent from the comparative studies that it is the implementation of these provisions that presents the greatest challenge for the realisation of primary education for children with disabilities. This suggests that whereas norm creation as under the CRPD may have the value of triggering and sustaining discourse on appropriate responses in the context of the education of children with disabilities, it is the translation of these norms into practical action points that is the determining factor for realization of the right. / South Africa

This diploma thesis deals with sufficiently good parenthood from the perspective of social workers in the department of social and legal protection of children in the Czech Republic and Norway. The theoretical part deals with good parenting, social and legal protection of children and its institutions in the context of both countries, and with national and international legislative bases important for understanding the differences in the perception of respondents of both countries at this level. The research part focuses on the differences in the perception of sufficiently good parenthood by the respondents of the Czech Republic and Norway. Differences in respondents' views on individual areas of parenthood and in the concept of family law relationships from the perspective of the best interests of the child were mapped in a mixed study that combined quantitative and qualitative methodology. The quantitative data obtained in the first research study were processed by categorical data analysis, descriptive and correlation analysis. To solve the second research study, content analysis was used for qualitative data. The research offers a view only on the comparison of respondents' perceptions. The results of the first research study cannot be applied to the entire population of social workers in...

Swedish libraries can be said to have entered a new phase characterized by librarians deliberately reflecting both on their libraries’ relation to society and on their own work procedures in libraries. One sign of this phase has been the campaign Bibliotek mot rasism (Libraries against racism). In this thesis, Bibliotek mot rasism together with three other instances of anti-racist actions on the part of librarians are investigated. These include the removal from libraries of children’s books featuring the character Lilla Hjärtat, the refusal to buy the book Massutmaning about the cost of immigration, and library associations not wanting to attend the Gothenburg Book Fair in 2017 because the racist newspaper Nya Tider was invited to attend the fair. The aim of the thesis is to illustrate the above mentioned new phase in library work. In order to do this, different texts in which the librarians explain their actions are studied. The questions asked are: How have the librarians reasoned? How have they looked upon their own role? Based on what contentions have they taken a stand? The results show different reasonings relevant to the different actions. When it comes to how the librarians have looked upon their own role and what arguments they have used to support their actions however, there are similarities between some of the librarians. The most frequently occuring roles are the willingness to show that the libraries are accessible for everyone and to stop the normalization of racism. When it comes to how the librarians argue to support their actions all of them refer to regulatory documents to do so. A statement referred to by several of the librarians is the equal value of everyone as regulated in the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Another regulatory document referred to by several of the librarians is the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.

The diploma thesis is focused on the differences in the system of child care in a children's home and in foster care. The fundamental right of children in the event of their separation from their parents, which is based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, includes the right to regular personal contact with parents (if such contact is in the best interests of the child). The first part of the diploma thesis is focused on the legal anchoring of institutional education and alternative family education with a focus on children's homes and foster care. Furthermore, the basic rights of children, especially the right of children to contact with the biological family with a focus on the description of the practical functioning of supporting the contact of children with the biological family in children's homes and foster care. The second part of the diploma thesis is focused on research, the aim of which is to find out, through quantitative research, how children growing up in a given form of alternative care perceive the support of contact with the biological family.

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of how district courts reason in cases where visitation is granted between children and a parent accused of violence either towards the child or the other parent. Our research question revolves around how the district court reasons regarding information about violence and to what extent the children’s opinions is taken into account in the decisions. We have examined 11 cases from 2022, collected from district courts in Skåne and Blekinge, Sweden. Discourse analysis has been employed as a suitable method to study the construction of meaning through language in the court decisions. The results show that the district court tends to focus on the parents’ difficulties in cooperation or conflicts rather than on the reports of violence within the family. In several of the judgments, violence has been reformulated through language use, where violence is described, for example, as a conflict. This results in the minimization or invisibility of the violence. The significance and severity of the violence are also diminished as the district court questions the credibility of the reports of violence. When granting visitation between a child and a potentially violent parent, the risk of violence has been minimized, and instead, the child’s need for close and good contact with both parents has been given significant weight in these decisions. The children’s opinions have been briefly described and weighed very little in the district court’s assessment in all of the judgments. When the child’s opinions have been taken into account, the district court has reasoned about how children are influenced by the parents. Often, the oldest child’s opinions have represented the views of the siblings as well.

The practice of "kidfluencing," or using children as social media influencers to promote commercial products and services, raises ethical concerns about the commodification of childhood, them being viewed as products, and their rights falling between the gaps. This essay critically examines the moral dilemmas and challenges in regulating kidfluencing practices from a Kantian and virtue ethics perspective, analyzing the implications of commodifying childhood and the potential harm it can cause. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is used as a framework for evaluating the moral interests of children in the context of kidfluencing practices. Arguments for and against regulating kidfluencing practices and the challenges and dilemmas in achieving effective and consistent regulation are presented. The essay concludes with a summary acknowledging the limitations and the need for further research.

Trafficking in children is widespread abuse of children that happens in Ghana. The concept of human rights has not yet fully found its way into societal structures and beliefs, and that creates problems when we want to ensure the protection of children from violations. Ghana is a country where children are trafficked, both transnationally and inside the country. Mainly for the sake of child labour. Even with many legislative frameworks and ratifications of conventions, the number of children being abused is high. After a nine-week minor field study in Ghana interviewing NGO workers, I am in this thesis analyzing the experiences of people working for organizations in Ghana to eliminate child trafficking in relation to the theory of childism. How great of a factor is prejudice against children in Ghana that enables child trafficking. Does it even exist? Concludingly finding that more than one factor contributes to child trafficking, mainly the lack of realization of children’s rights and the realization of children as right bearers.

The aim of this qualitative study is to investigate how professionals in women’s shelters work to maintain the child's needs and rights. The study also concerns how children exposed to violence are affected by previous experiences of violence in their home environment and how their relationships are affected by staying at the shelter. The study reflects professionals' experiences in their work with children in women's shelters and the problematic aspects of maintaining the child's everyday life. The study's empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews with four professionals working in women's shelters. Through a thematic analysis the collected data has been processed and linked to previous research in the field. In the results of the study it appears that the child's everyday life is affected to a large extent due to their stay at the shelter. There are problematic aspects regarding the relationship between the need for protection and the maintenance of the child's needs and rights. The results also highlight how the child's social life is affected by moving to the women's shelter and how the experiences of the previous violence can create consequences for the child

In this minor field study, we have employed a qualitative methodology to examine the role of  the non-governmental organisation Wale Wale in the operationalisation of supranational mandates to improve the rights and experiences of children in Kenya through participatory activities. In doing so, this study is able to combine the literature on Sense of Place and The Right to The City with Critical Development in novel ways. This has allowed us to examine the chasm between supranational and national mandates and local articulations using an interesting case study. Indeed, Wale Wale  demonstrates the difficulty of (i) implementing analogous supranational legislation, such as the Convention of The Rights of The Child (CRC), without practical or legally binding frameworks; (ii) that reactionary government frameworks are ineffective  in implementing supranational policy at the local scale when compared with proactive non-governmental organisations; (iii) that participatory democracy introduced in childhood has played a fundamental role in the empowerment of local residents in reclaiming space in the city and that (iv) understanding this case study is impossible without uniting the disparate literatures on Sense of Place and The Right to The City in understanding the role of local organisations in Critical Development Studies.

Den 1 april 2024 trädde regeringens nya proposition 2023/24:31 i kraft, som syftar till att stärka rättigheterna för barn och vuxna som befinner sig i skyddat boende. Denna kvalitativa studie undersöker hur socialtjänsten i Skåne arbetat med reformen om skyddat boende för barn. Målet för denna studie är att tillföra ny kriminologisk kunskap inom forskningsämnet. Studien har även som målsättning att analysera förändringar i hur socialtjänsten betraktar våldsutsatta barn som rättssubjekt. Studien vill också belysa de åtgärder och strategier som utarbetats i förberedelseprocessen. Detta görs genom en undersökning av hur Socialtjänstlagen förändrats från före till efter reformen. Denna förändring ges med bakgrund i hur skyddat boende såg ut innan reformen trädde i kraft. Studiens frågeställningar besvaras genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer bestående av nio respondenter från socialtjänsten, som har direkt erfarenhet av att arbeta med reformen. Genomförandet av studien utgår från implementeringsteorin och tidigare forskning. Resultatet kom fram till fyra huvudteman som är anpassning och samordning av resurser, tidsaspekten i tillämpningen av reformen för barn och utsatta, barns rättigheter förstärks inom ramen för skyddat boende och individanpassad bedömning för barns behov. Resultatet visar att kommunerna har förberett sig till den nya lagen genom att ta fram rutiner och checklistor vilket vägleder dem genom beslut om skyddat boende för barn. Efter implementeringen av reformen stärks barnets ställning som rättssubjekt, detta genom en individuell bedömning av barnet och tilldelning av en egen socialsekreterare. Detta leder till en förstärkt känsla av säkerhet och trygghet för barnet. Studien föreslår en senare utvärdering av reformen för att analysera hur den har förändrats över tid. En sådan utvärdering skulle kunna bidra med insikter om hur lagförändringen verkställs av yrkesverksamma inom socialtjänsten. / On April 1, 2024, the new proposition 2023/24:31 of the government came into effect, aiming to strengthen the rights of children and adults in sheltered housing. This qualitative study examines how social services in Skåne have worked with the reform of sheltered housing for children. The goal of this study is to contribute new criminological knowledge within the research field. Additionally, the study aims to analyze changes in how social services view children exposed to violence as legal subjects. The study also seeks to highlight the measures and strategies developed during the preparation process. This is done by investigating how the Social Services Acts have changed from before to after the reform. This change is contextualized by examining the state of sheltered housing before the reform came into effect. The research questions are addressed through semi-structured interviews with nine respondents from social services who have direct experience working with the reform. The study is conducted based on implementation theory and previous research. The results identified four main themes which are adaptation and coordination of resources, the time aspect in applying the reform for children and the vulnerable, strengthening children's rights within the framework of sheltered housing, and individualized assessment of children's needs. The results show that municipalities have prepared for the new law by developing routines and checklists, which guide them through decisions regarding sheltered housing for children. Following the implementation of the reform, the child's status as a legal subject is strengthened through an individual assessment and the assignment of a dedicated social worker. This leads to an enhanced sense of safety and security for the child. The study suggests a future evaluation of the reform to analyze how it has evolved over time. Such an evaluation could provide insights into how the legal changes are being implemented by social service professionals.