Children’s rights

Definition published in the category Legal and Normative Frameworks

Last updated on 19 June 2026

Children are among those most vulnerable to Sexual violence (including conflict-related sexual violence) and Gender-based violence (SGBV) and crimes, particularly sexual abuse and exploitation, child marriage, trafficking, conflict-related sexual violence, technology-facilitated abuse, forced labour, recruitment into armed forces and groups, and denial of access to education and healthcare, among other harms. International law recognises children as rights-holders entitled to specific protection by virtue of their age and relative vulnerability, imposing particular obligations on states to prevent, respond to, and remedy violations of these rights.

Children’s rights are guaranteed under international and regional human rights law. The United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC, 1989) is the foundational and universal instrument on children’s rights. It has been ratified by all states except the United States of America. Children are defined in Article 1 of the CRC as "every human being below the age of eighteen" [1]. However, national laws frequently diverge from this definition, setting lower age thresholds that can leave children vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

The provisions of the CRC most directly relevant to SGBV include:

Article 19, which obliges states to take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect children from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse;
Article 34, which requires states to protect children from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, including prostitution and pornography;
Article 35, which addresses the prevention of abduction, sale and trafficking of children; and
Article 39, which guarantees every child victim the right to recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration.

Three Optional Protocols to the CRC extend states’ obligations in areas related to SGBV against children. The Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (2000) criminalises the sale, trafficking and sexual exploitation of children. The Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (2000) raises the minimum age for direct participation in hostilities and prohibits the compulsory recruitment of children under the age of eighteen into armed forces or groups. The Third Optional Protocol to the CRC, establishing an individual communications procedure, was adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011, enabling the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC Committee) to receive and examine complaints of rights violations submitted by or on behalf of children.

Several further universal instruments address forms of exploitation that directly concern children’s exposure to SGBV. The Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (Palermo Protocol, 2000), supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, constitutes the primary international legal framework on child trafficking. It obliges states to criminalise trafficking, protect victims and adopt preventive measures [2]. International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (1999), the first ILO Convention to achieve universal ratification, defines the worst forms of child labour as including slavery and practices similar to slavery, trafficking, debt bondage, forced recruitment for use in armed conflict, child prostitution and pornography. It requires states to take immediate and time-bound measures to eliminate these practices and imposes obligations that directly complement the CRC’s child protection framework [3].

At the regional level, the following instruments provide complementary protections for children against SGBV:

The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC, 1990), monitored by the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, provides complementary protections under Article 16 (protection from abuse and torture) and Article 21 (prohibition of harmful social and cultural practices). These provisions should be read alongside the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (Maputo Protocol), which expressly prohibits female genital mutilation and other harmful practices affecting girls (Article 5) [4].
In Europe, the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention, 2007) is the most directly relevant instrument, criminalising sexual abuse, grooming, and online sexual exploitation of children. In addition, the Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention, 2011) requires states to ensure that child witnesses of violence covered by the Convention receive protection and psychosocial support (Article 26) [5].
In the Americas, the Inter-American Convention on International Traffic in Minors (1994) provides for cooperation among states parties to prevent and punish international traffic in minors and to protect and care for child victims [6]. The Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belém do Pará, 1994), while primarily focused on violence against women, extends protection to girls through Article 9, which requires states to give special considerations to the particular vulnerability of women and girls "of minor age" [7].
In South Asia, the SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution (2002), in force since 2005 and binding on all eight SAARC member states, addresses regional cooperation on trafficking prevention, prosecution and victim rehabilitation. However, its scope is limited to trafficking for the purpose of prostitution [8].

As required under Article 39 of the CRC, effective prevention of and response to violence against children encompasses victim identification, medical and psychosocial treatment, legal support, and the physical and psychological recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration of every child victim. For the criminal law framework governing the most serious international crimes committed against children, see "Crimes against children".

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Footnotes

[1] United Nations (UN), Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted 20 November 1989, entered into force 2 September 1990, Article 1.

[2] UN, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children ("Palermo Protocol"), supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, adopted 15 November 2000, entered into force 25 December 2003.

[3] International Labour Organisation (ILO), Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, adopted 17 June 1999, entered into force 19 November 2000.

[4] Organisation of African Unity (OAU), African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, adopted 1 July 1990, entered into force 29 November 1999, Articles 16 and 21; African Union, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa ("Maputo Protocol"), adopted 11 July 2003, entered into force 25 November 2005, Article 5.

[5] Council of Europe, Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse ("Lanzarote Convention"), adopted 25 October 2007, entered into force 1 July 2010; Council of Europe, Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence ("Istanbul Convention"), adopted 11 May 2011, entered into force 1 August 2014, Article 26.

[6] Organisation of American States (OAS), Inter-American Convention on International Traffic in Minors, adopted 18 March 1994, entered into force 15 August 1997.

[7] OAS, Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence against Women (Convention of Belém do Pará), adopted 9 June 1994, entered into force 5 March 1995, Article 9.

[8] South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution, adopted 5 January 2002, entered into force 15 November 2005.