AT VOTE: Repeal "Child Protection Act" [Complete] [Complete]

Repeal "Child Protection Act":

Description: WA General Assembly Resolution #19: Child Protection Act (Category: Human Rights; Strength: Significant) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

Argument: THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY:

APPLAUDS the aim of GAR#19, Child Protection Act, which is to protect children from abuse.

REGRETS, however, that shortcomings within this resolution cause it to fall short of successfully achieving this goal.

UNDERSTANDS that repealing this resolution will not prevent WA member nations from continuing their efforts to protect children within their borders.

ACCEPTS that physical and emotional abuse of children should be considered criminal acts within WA member states.

NOTES, however, that although this resolution states that "A child is entitled to ... not to be physically or emotionally abused" it fails to criminalize such actions.

FEELS that while giving children the right to not be abused is laudable, this resolution does not go far enough in working to prevent such horrific actions against children.

RECOGNIZES that this resolution's text also permits the continued abuses of children as Clause 3 reads: "A child has the right to remain with his or her parents or guardians, provided that articles 1 and/or 2 have not been violated".

OBSERVES that such wording, at minimum, permits WA member nations to leave abused children in the care of those who are abusing them until such abuse can be proven, which may result in children remaining with their abusers throughout the investigative process.

BELIEVES that children should be protected from those who are accused of abusing them throughout the investigative and judicial process.

REALIZES that the wording of the aforementioned Clause 3 means that children have a right to remain with their parents or guardians, which would include those who may be:

Detained in prison, for a crime unrelated to child abuse.

Fighting in a war in a foreign country.

Hospitalized for an extended period of time due to a severe illness or injury.

PROTESTS that this resolution clouds the issue of child protection rather than serving to clarify it through defining a child as “being under the age of consent or majority.” The wording of this clause is ambiguous, and it may permit WA member nations to pick and choose which definition they wish to employ in a given situation, depending on what best serves their governmental interests, versus serving the best interests of the child.

HOPES for future legislation that comprehensively ensures the protection of children.

REPEALS GAR#19, Child Protection Act.

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