Children in Europe

Human rights are basically respected in most European countries and the European Social Charter, adopted in 1965 and revised in 1999, is a major treaty which secures children's rights. Yet there are millions of children in Europe who are deprived of their fundamental rights. According to a June 2007 report of the European Parliament, over the next twelve months, around 3,500 children under the age of 15 will die as a result of physical assault and neglect in the world’s richest nations. One out of every ten school children, faces violence at schools —some of it so traumatic that suicide seems the only way out. In 2004, a report by the Council of Jobs, Income and Social Cohesion, set up by the French Government, found that one million children in France live below the poverty line. Poverty was especially acute among immigrants, as one in four poor children has non-EU parents.

Although child poverty in south-eastern Europe and the former republics of the Soviet Union has declined significantly after a decade-long rise following the fall of communism, the number of impoverished children in this region remains disturbingly high. According to the Unicefs Innocenti Social Monitor 2006: ‘Understanding Child Poverty in South-Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States’, one in four children in the region are living in absolute poverty, and is shocking the number of children who are placed in institutions throughout the Eastern European region despite having either one or both parents living.

Roman children (Photo: WIT)

Professor Corinne May-Chahal's Child Sexual Abuse in Europe (2003) demonstrated that child sexual abuse and exploitation are significant problems in Europe today, as it is estimated that between 10% and 20% of children are sexually assaulted during their childhood in a variety of forms that include incest, prostitution, pornography, date rape, peer sexual violence and institutional sexual abuse.

The Child Rights Information Network has underlined that migrant children are one of the most vulnerable groups in Europe today. Some of them have fled persecution or war; others have run away from poverty and destitution. There are also those who are victims of trafficking. At particular risks are those who are separated from their families and have no —or only temporary— residence permits. Many of these children suffer exploitation and abuse, denounces CRIN. Likewise, migrant children have, in many countries, on average much lower education levels than nationals, due to language and cultural barriers.

The plight of many children is aggravated by increasing racism and xenophobia, of which Europe has seen a rising tide these past two decades, particularly in the form of “Islamophobia”, coupled with an ideological anti-Semitism propagated by neo-Nazi parties. A number of reports affirm that intolerance against Muslims worsened since 11 September 2001. In an overview of hate-motivated violent incidents in Europe in the first half of 2006, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) established that while patterns of xenophobia and intolerance continue, there are also reports about more violent hate crimes against migrants and minorities.

These challenges led GNRC Europe to set up a series of goals, namely: to foster respect for religious and cultural diversities and celebrate commonalities; to encourage dialogue and collaboration among people of faith in responding to children’s rights; to promote the spiritual development of children through ethics education and to promote children’s participation. In order to attain these goals, GNRC Europe had worked together with the members of the GNRC, religious leaders and people of faith in various European countries, seeking to establish a common pattern of reference and encouraging practical collaboration.

In various opportunities the GNRC Europe has worked closely with the Council on Ethics Education for Children. In fact, ethics education was high on the agenda of activities implemented by GNRC Europe in this period, focusing on issues like human dignity, peace at schools, community development and migration, in response to problems such as intolerance, racism and xenophobia. Violence at schools is a growing problem that educational authorities are trying to solve. The 2005 conference ‘Stop Violence Against Children – ACT NOW’, denounced that, whereas all countries in Europe have a legal framework for action —the Convention on the Rights of the Child— obligations are flouted day after day by state, social services, law enforcement officials, community, media, family. In schools, bullying and worse forms of violence take a toll in suicides or ruined lives; while the community provides scant refuge for thousands of children living on the streets or merely ‘hanging out’.