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Topic: The question of Child Protection

Council: Association of South-East Asian Nations Social, Humanitarian and Cultural


council
Country: United States of America

The rights of children is and should always be uncontentious. Every child, regardless
of ethnicity, religion or even economic status, should have their fundamental rights
enshrined and protected by the government. The issue and problem then that
plagues governments lies not the legal system and legal documents, but rather
enforcing those policies and ensuring that children are adequately protected, not
just on paper, but in reality.

There is a spectrum for the abuse of children in Asia, as in everywhere else. While
the milder cases include domestic abuse by savage parents, the more heinous
crimes include child trafficking, child slavery and even child prostitution. Laos is
reportedly a source country and transit country when it concerns children in the sex
tourism industry.1 This situation can be improved by following legal frameworks
along with implementing existing frameworks more effectively.
There have been various legal frameworks such as the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, Convention on rights of child, Minimum Age Convention and Worst
Forms of Child Labor Convention currently present. ASEAN, in turn, has passed
documents, such as the Declaration on the Commitments for Children in ASEAN in
2001 and the ASEAN Commission for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of
Women and Children (ACWC) ( April 2010) which reaffirms its commitment to
protecting and promoting child rights.
USA has long championed child protection and has implemented various policies in
practice to do so.
Children are generally afforded the basic rights embodied by the Constitution, as
enshrined by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which
applies to children. USA has effectively enforced various federal laws, such as the
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) by dedicating an entire
governmental agency to this cause, called the Child Protective Services (CPS). USA
firmly feels that ASEAN countries can model after its success to improve the status
quo.

1 http://www.afppd.org/files/1113/8206/9530/Policy_Brief.pdf

To improve the situation, USA proposes a three pronged approach; prevention,


protection, prosecution. Firstly, it is of utmost importance that parents are aware
and educated on the rights of children. Due to the impact of culture or a disregard
of laws predicated on the assumption that they would not be caught, many subject
their children to unfair treatment, such as in the form of violence, to cases as
extreme as even forced labor. Children should also be educated on their rights and
how to report cases of exploitation. Secondly, on protection, existing international,
regional and local mechanisms of detection and identification of abuse must be
improved. Such abuses must be swiftly identified either through means of checking
hotspots of abuse on a regular basis, such as red light districts and the
establishment of an anonymous hotline after which children will be protected in
government allocated lodges. Lastly, on prosecution, the protection of children can
be ensured by implementing punitive measures such as heavy fines of jail terms
when abuse is proven. The message sent that the government is enforcing these
measures will remove the stigma that children can easily be abused without
repercussion. Regional cooperation can be established, for various purposes such as
sharing effective policies. USA stands for the protection of children in Asia and
believes these mechanisms will be effective.

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