About Us
While children suffer many of the same human rights abuses as adults, they also are targeted because they are dependent and vulnerable. For example, in the United States, children are more likely to be exposed to violence and crime than are adults; more than 60% have been exposed to violence in the past year. Countless children are abused and neglected. Every year, millions of children die from preventable causes. 153 million youth in developing countries cannot read or write, with the majority being girls. It is estimated that millions of children are trafficked for labor or sexual exploitation throughout the world, including the United States. An estimated 300,000 boys and girls are involved as soldiers in armed conflict; countless thousands are killed or injured, and many more have fled their homes to become refugees.
Recognizing that children require special protections, the Center for the Human Rights of Children pursues an agenda of interdisciplinary research, education, and service to address critical and complex issues affecting children and youth, both locally and globally. The Center applies a human-rights approach to the problems affecting children, reaffirming the principle of the indivisibility of human rights and the importance of promoting economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights of children. It does so with respect for the rights and responsibilities of parents, teachers, and other caregivers entrusted with raising children.
Mission
Loyola’s Center for the Human Rights of Children represents, coordinates, and stimulates efforts to understand, protect and apply the human rights of children in the face of injustice and poverty of body, mind, and spirit.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The Center seeks guidance and inspiration from the tradition of Catholic teachings on social justice as well as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.