Making children visible: femicide and child protection under the UNCRC
Both academic and policy discourses on femicide are rapidly evolving, but still notably oriented towards direct victims and perpetrators. The impact on children, though multiple and profound, is neglected. Femicides predominantly occur within the home where children become witnesses to violence. The...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2025
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| In: |
Human rights review
Year: 2025, Volume: 26, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 55-76 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Keywords: |
| Summary: | Both academic and policy discourses on femicide are rapidly evolving, but still notably oriented towards direct victims and perpetrators. The impact on children, though multiple and profound, is neglected. Femicides predominantly occur within the home where children become witnesses to violence. The risk of being collateral victims is high. The primary suspect, typically the child’s father or stepfather, is either arrested or dies by suicide. Hence, many surviving children are bereaved of not only one, but both parents, and left as double orphans. Their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child become vulnerable to violation. Reflecting on the specific situation of double orphans, this article aims to make children visible as secondary victims of femicide and to demonstrate how state responses can be aligned with a rights-based approach under international law. It explores key areas where rights are most at risk and critically evaluates the ethical-legal dilemmas involved against the best interests of the child standard. The article finds that, where rights are in conflict, protecting children from further harm must take precedence over formal family preservation. While some child-centred reforms have begun to emerge, the case of Argentina shows that responses remain uneven: its custody law is normatively aligned with the child’s best interests, yet the economic reparation scheme does not meet the scope and urgency of the issue. |
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| Item Description: | Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 74-76 |
| ISSN: | 1874-6306 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s12142-025-00739-w |
