Looking at Law through Children’s Eyes

This thesis aims to contribute to understanding why these rights violations happen and what can be done to improve the protection of children’s rights. It does so by incorporating a child’s perspective in the study of legal norms related to the realization/violation of children’s rights.

For children, law is not necessarily limited to what is stated in state legal codes, of which they are generally unaware, rather it is what their parents or their teachers tell them. When looking at law through children’s eyes, the rules of the household, the classroom, and other legal orders which they are members of, can in many instances be classified as law. This law, that we find when looking at law through children’s eyes, has to be recognized as part of a complete picture of law influencing the protection and/or violation of children’s rights.