Children Born of Wartime Sexual Violence and the Convention on the Rights of the Child

This chapter argues that children born of war challenge existing efforts of rights protection. It identifies the gaps and promises of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) by reviewing early drafts of the Convention and then traces how the Convention has evolved from the 1924 Geneva Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the subsequent 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Reviewing the history behind the UNCRC helps to understand how the concept of childhood has evolved with the changing nature of international politics. The chapter presents the questions on the effectiveness of the UNCRC by outlining how children born of wartime sexual violence are not included. The UNCRC is the product of a long history of attempts to protect the rights of children. In the twenty years since the ratification of the UNCRC, the treaty has ensured a number of successes worldwide.