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An Oppenheimer Chair Brown Bag Lunch Seminar with M贸nica Ruiz-Casares.

Abstract

After 14 years of civil war and in the eve of the second round of national democratic elections this year, Liberia is working to reduce child abuse and exploitation, including children with inadequate parental care.

As a result of the conflict, an entire generation of children was deprived of an education, with 56 percent of girls and 39 percent of boys having never attended school. Sexual abuse and exploitation of girls, ritualistic killings, high levels of poverty often leading to hazardous child labor and unnecessary institutionalization of children, child trafficking, and harmful traditional practices persist and resistance to discuss some of these issues openly further compounds the difficulty of affecting change.

Polarized opinions on child rights fuel heated debate and obstruct the passage of national child rights and protection legislation. The Children's Bill, passed by the House of Representatives in June 2010, has since been blocked in the Senate under assertions of objectionable Western influence in relation to cultural practices such as FGM/C, corporal punishment, and child labor. Whereas some are supportive of the human rights framework, others believe "human rights spoil our children", and yet others show confusion about what child rights mean and their applications.

This seminar will illustrate current challenges and dilemmas faced in the protection of children in Liberia using findings from a recent survey led by the presenter in 12 Districts in Central and Western Liberia, plus the national capital, Monrovia.

About the speaker.

M贸nica Ruiz-Casares is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Social and Cultural Psychiatry at 9I制作厂免费. She obtained her Ph.D. in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University. She also holds a Law degree from Universidad Pontificia Comillas-ICADE (Spain), a M.A. in International Development from The George Washington University, and a M.Sc. in Program Planning and Evaluation from Cornell. Her main areas of expertise cover the wellbeing and protection of orphan, separated, and unsupervised children across cultures; children rights and participation; and social policy and program evaluation. Her research privileges the voices of children and youth internationally, and is inspired by action research principles.

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