Reviews the domestic and legal protections that 16 countries — Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Nicaragua, Russia, and the United Kingdom — afford their children and summarizes the laws and policies that impact children’s health and welfare in each country, and the treaties pertinent to children’s rights that each country’s government has ratified. Legal systems throughout the world have increasingly sought to protect children since the 18th century, although much progress remains to be done. The United Nations has issued numerous universal condemnations of child labor, child sex trafficking, and child conscription into armed services. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child affirmed a comprehensive set of children’s rights, including a child’s right to preserve his identity, the rights of vulnerable children like refugees to special protection, and indigenous children’s right to practice their culture, to have freedom of expression, and to be guaranteed the right to a fair trial. Africa, Europe, and the United States all separately enacted regional treaties ensuring comprehensive protections of their children.
