Zanzibar: What do children think of children’s rights?

Not surprisingly, they like the idea of having rights protected by law, as research on the semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar shows.

Children’s rights, while not an entirely new concept, is a comparatively recent venture of international law with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) being entered into force in 1989.

CRC is the most widely ratified piece of international law signed by all states except the United States and Somalia.

It outlines such rights as that of participation in matters concerning his or her wellbeing; freedom from discrimination based on status; and freedom from arbitrary detainment.

But ratifying the Convention is only the first step. The challenge of incorporating convention into national legislation is far more complex.

How does a state take international law that applies equally to Australia as it does to Afghanistan and localise it, so it is not only enforced, but embraced by its constituents?

COMMUNITY CONSULTATION

The state of Children’s Rights on the semi-Autonomous island of Zanzibar was poor.

Zanzibar has been a member of CRC since 1991 as a part of Tanzania. The research demonstrated that Zanzibar’s legal instruments did not meet the standards they were obliged to under their membership of the Convention.

Legislation pertaining to children was scattered across different pieces of law, often vague and sometimes contradicting. Simple matters such as the age of a child were unclear based on existing law. Matters were complicated further by the Islamic norms followed by ninety-nine per cent of the island, which directs family matters to the Kadhis courts.

Surveys aimed at assessing the breadth of child abuse, particularly sexual, determined that while it was a common experience for children, most victims never reported incidents or received support, a clear indication of weak Child Protection infrastructure.

Ten percent of children who had had sexual intercourse before the age of eighteen said their first experience was unwilling.

One in twenty females and one in ten males are reported to have experienced at least one incident of sexual violence.

It is believed though that less than half of the cases of sexual violence are reported and the vast majority is left without any legal, health or psychosocial support following incidents.

Juvenile justice was another area assessed and determined to be in a poor state.

Children in conflict with the law were being held in the same facilities as adults, with no child-specific facilities available; they were frequently detained for much longer than the legally mandated twenty-four hour maximum period without legal support or being charged. Some reported as being held for up to seven months without trial.

The Ministry of Labour, Youth, Women and Child Development led the decision to write a Children’s Act to cohesively outline Zanzibar’s commitment to the rights of the child.

Workshops were held involving child protection professionals, prosecution, police, social welfare departments, religious leaders and NGOs to determine the necessary focus areas of the new piece of law.

WHOSE CHOICE WAS IT TO INVOLVE THE CHILDREN?

514 children were consulted as a part of the development in the spirit of encouraging child participation. Children’s councils were established, which are now ongoing, to discover the opinions of children regarding their own welfare with the following results:

85% felt that it was vital to have legislation protecting their rights and interests.

82% of participating children believed that they should participate in decisions that affect their lives.

92% felt that the State has a responsibility to protect children who are vulnerable and in need of care and protection.

77% of children described corporal punishment as a harmful, arbitrary and ultimately meaningless practice.

80% called on the government to ban it in schools and promote the use of alternative discipline.

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