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Children’s Rights

  • Living reference work entry
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Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics

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Abstract

During childhood, individuals present some special needs as objects of care, as subjects of universal and unalienable rights, and as agents of singular morality. The particular conditions of childhood merit providing a system of protection that allows children to have their needs covered and assures their development.

Today children have a special legal system based on human rights. However, despite the progress made in the protection of children, since the introduction of the Convention of the Rights of the Child in 1989, the debate is still open on whether children are exempt from these rights, the degree thereof and their applicability.

In this chapter, building on the rights that UNICEF highlighted as core values and considering the focus of rights, ethics and the particular conditions of children, certain key questions are addressed which may be useful in the remaining social debate on the applicability of the rights of children from the basic principles of bioethics. With the input and ideas presented in this chapter the aim is to give a voice to the child, implicating her as a moral subject in processes relating to her welfare, development, health and care.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Alicante, Alicante, Valencian Community, Spain

    Ana Lucía Noreña Peña

  2. Nursing Faculty, El Bosque University, Bogotá D.C, Colombia

    Miguel Antonio Sánchez Cárdenas

Authors
  1. Ana Lucía Noreña Peña
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  2. Miguel Antonio Sánchez Cárdenas
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ana Lucía Noreña Peña .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Duquesne University Center for Healthcare Ethics, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

    Henk ten Have

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© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Peña, A.L.N., Cárdenas, M.A.S. (2015). Children’s Rights. In: ten Have, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Bioethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05544-2_76-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05544-2_76-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-05544-2

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