Description
Book SynopsisThe Child's Interests in Conflict addresses one of the most pressing issues of any multicultural society, namely the conflicting demands on children from minority groups or children born to parents of different cultural or religious backgrounds. What the family considers to be in the child's best interests and welfare in the studied situations is not shared by society at large. Each guided by faith, culture and tradition, society views the child to be exposed to a significant harm or risk of harm if certain traditions are followed, whereas in contrast the parents believe that their child is harmed or in harm's way if that tradition is not respected.Focusing primarily on Europe, the contributions in this book, written by internationally leading experts and with a interdisciplinary element, address situations of conflict regarding the child's upbringing and education in general, the shaping of the child's cultural or faith-based identity, underage marriages, circumcision of boys, the role of faith and culture in society's placements of children outside the care of their family, and the role of faith in cross-border child abduction and disputes over parental responsibilities. Attention is paid to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and to less well-known national case law, as well as to recent national legislation, all of which show not only the complexity of the issues discussed but also the differing ways multicultural challenges are dealt with.The authors strive to answer, inter alia, how legal systems should navigate between the competing claims and conflicting interests without forgetting the main person to be protected, namely the child; and how the scope of tolerance, recognition and autonomy should be defined.
Table of ContentsCO N T E N TS Preface ... v List of Authors ... ix The Child in the Intersections between Society, Family, Faith and Culture Maarit Jantera-Jareborg ... 1 1. Introduction ... 1 2. Focus on Europe and the Nordic States - but with Global Implications... 4 3. How Human Rights Instruments Tackle the Child's Confl icting Interests ... 8 4. The Child's Right to Religious Identity ... 14 5. Navigating between Parents' Convictions and the State's Interest in Equal Education for All ... 15 6. Removal of Children from Parental Care... 18 7. Protecting Children from Marrying ... 21 8. Circumcision of Boys: What is at Stake?... 24 9. Cooperation Instead of Confrontation: the Malta Process ... 28 10. The Child as the "Sacrificial Lamb" to Society, Family, Religion and Culture ... 30 Born or Becoming: Children, Religion and Identity Jane Mair ... 31 1. The Badge of Identity ... 31 2. Identity Rights ... 34 3. The Situated Child: the Best and the Least ... 39 4. Identifying Relationships: a Case Study ... 49 5. The Limits of Labelling ... 53 State Curriculum and Parents' Convictions under the European Convention on Human Rights Sanna Mustasaari and Sanna Koulu ... 55 1. Travelling with Children in Strasbourg ... 55 2. Religion and Education: Between Parental and State Authority ... 56 Intersentia vii Contents 3. The European Court on a Tightrope between the State and the Parents? ... 60 4. Exemption from Education in National Laws ... 64 5. Best Interests of the Child: from Universal Rules to Particular Contexts and Back? ... 66 6. Child's Freedom of Religion or Parents' Convictions?... 69 7. Planning Future Travels ... 71 Care Placements of Children Outside their Parental Home - Concerns of Culture Sanne Hofman and Kirsten Sandberg ... 73 1. Introduction ... 73 2. The Law ... 75 3. Cultural Background in the Consideration of Serious Neglect ... 77 4. Refugee Children ... 77 5. Physical Violence ... 78 6. The Best Interests Assessment ... 79 7. The Placement ... 80 8. Overall Evaluation ... 83 Child Marriages and the Law - with Special Reference to Swedish Developments Goran Lambertz ... 85 1. Introduction ... 86 2. Some Points of Departure ... 88 3. Legislation or Not? ... 92 4. No Possibility of Exceptions to Marriage Age? ... 100 5. Criminalisation? ... 102 6. How Should We Counteract Negative Effects? ... 109 7. Closing Remarks ... 110 Circumcision of Young Boys: A Conflict between Parental and Child Rights. The Swedish Experience from a Medical Point of View Staffan Janson ... 111 1. Introduction ... 111 2. The Practice and its Historic Background ... 113 3. The Swedish Situation ... 115 4. The 2012 Statement by the American Pediatric Academy ... 119 5. The Statement of the Scandinavian Ombudsmen ... 123 6. Conclusion... 124 viii Intersentia Contents The Body as Identity Marker. Circumcision of Boys Caught between Contrasting Views on the Best Interests of the Child Marie-Claire Foblets ... 125 1. Introduction ... 126 2. Different Perspectives Associated with the Appraisal of Child Care, Identity and Personhood ... 142 3. Some Personal Reflections by Way of a Conclusion ... 161 Malta Process and Cross-Cultural Aspects in Family Disputes Louise Ellen Teitz ... 163 1. Introduction: the Challenges of Cross-Border Family Relationships ... 163 2. Discussion ... 167 3. Conclusion... 180 The Child as the "Sacrificial Lamb" to Society, Family, Religion and Culture. A Comment Esin Orucu ... 185 Annex ... 187 Index... 201 Intersentia
