What can I do?What are my rights?

There are general human rights and specific children’s rights. The document containing these fifty-five rights (or articles) is called the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

It is based on the following principles:

• Every child has the right to life and development.
• Every child has the right to protection from danger and violence.
• Every child has the right not to be discriminated against, disadvantaged or excluded on account of any particular characteristic.
• Every child has the right for decisions affecting it to be made with the best intentions.
• Every child has the right to express its opinion and for this opinion to be taken into account when decisions are made about and for it.

More information about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child can be found at www.kindersache.de/politik and at www.kinder-ministerium.de. The UNICEF children’s website, www.unicef.de/kids/, is also interesting.

There are parents who think that it’s not right to hit a child and are ashamed when they slip up. There are parents who believe that they can hit their children because they have custody over them and can decide on their own what’s good for the children.

You have the right to an upbringing without violence.

You have the right to an upbringing without violence. Children and juveniles should be allowed to develop properly. For this to take place, they must be able to live without fear of verbal, emotional, physical or sexual violence. Parents and other people responsible for a child’s upbringing may not humiliate or mistreat the child. It’s not only wrong for people to do so; it’s also a criminal offence that can be reported. You parents are not allowed to push or shove you. This is a form of simple assault.

The right to an upbringing without violence also means that a child should not have to witness violence between adults.

The right to an upbringing without violence also means that a child should not have to witness violence between adults. Parents are meant to be role models, and every child growing up in such a situation will be afraid and worried, for example, for its mother, younger siblings or itself.

If you wish to make criminal charges, you can go to the police, where you will find forms to press charges. The police will help you to fill them out. If the injuries are serious or the case involves child abuseand the police find out about it, they will make inquiries without you having to press charges. The punishment depends on the severity of the act. Violence is never the right answer or solution.