Book and Book Chapters (Faculty of Law)
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Item Advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights of adolescents in Africa: The role of the courts(Springer, 2019) Durojaye, EbenezerAcross the world, adolescents encounter various challenges that may implicate the enjoyment of their sexual and reproductive health and rights. The situation of adolescents in Africa is aggravated by high poverty levels and a high disease burden in the region. Some of the challenges facing adolescents in Africa include high incidence of child marriage, unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion, and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and maternal mortality. It is estimated that 1 in 3 girls is married before attaining 18 (UNFPA, Marrying too young: end child marriage. UN Population Fund, 2012), while an estimated 16 million adolescent girls aged 15–19 (most of them in poor regions, including Africa) give birth yearly. Also, about 31% of young women aged 20–24 in least developed countries gave birth before age 18 between 2000 and 2009 (UNICEF et al., Violence against Children in Tanzania: Findings from a National Survey 2009. UN Children’s Fund, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, 2011). An in-depth study of four sub-Saharan African countries found that 60% or more of adolescent men and women did not know how to prevent pregnancy and one-third or more did not know of a source for contraceptives (Guttmacher Institute and IPPF, Facts on the sexual and reproductive health of adolescent women in the developing world. Allan Guttmacher Institute and International Planned Parenthood Federation, 2010). The majority of about 300,000 women and girls that die annually (800 deaths per day) due to complications arising from childbirth are from Africa (UNFPA 2011).Item Children’s rights and parental authority: African perspectives(Routledge, 2021) Sloth-Nielsen, JuliaTraditionally, children in African societies were raised communally, with extended family members playing a vital role in child rearing and care. Social reality is playing a formative role in relation to family law and policy, including in respect of children’s rights. Most African children still grow up under conditions of extreme poverty, which is exacerbated by urbanization, conflict, adverse climatic conditions and economic disparity which leaves large numbers of people unemployed or underemployed. Characteristic of the African human rights conception is a unique provision for the responsibilities of the child. Children’s rights feature prominently in African constitutions, and commonly include protection for the family, education rights and rights relating to special protection.Item Modern African childhoods: does Law matter?(Oxford University Press, 2012) Sloth-Nielsen, JuliaINTRODUCTION: This paper poses a question often aimed at lawyers, especially when they straddle a culturally diverse and contested terrain of human experience, such as the role of children and families in society: does law matter? The question is all the more pertinent in African contexts, due to the pervasive poverty, prevalence of practices harmful to children, and perceived inability of weak states to put legislative intentions into effect.Item Real or imagined local autonomy: Experiences from local government in Ethiopia, South Africa and Zimbabwe(Koninklijke Brill NV, 2021) Chigwata, Tinashe; de Visser, Jaap; Ayele, ZemelakCentralized rule has been common in Africa, and almost all African countries implemented, constitutionally or otherwise, programs of centralization from the time they achieved independence from colonial rule. They did so with the declared purposes of modernization, achieving economic development and nation building (Godefroidt, Langer and Meuleman 2016). However, these lofty goals were not achieved; African countries remain characterized by underdevelopment, lack of democratic rule, corruption and ethnic-based conflicts. Many blame the centralized and extremely bureaucratized government and governance systems and decision-making processes for worsening, if not causing, these problems (Addisson 1998; Jackson 2002). In the past three or so decades, therefore, there has been a general move in Africa towards decentralization and reducing bureaucracy. This trend is part of a global movement, based on the recognition that central government was too big, inaccessible, remote and inefficient in terms of bringing about development and democratic rule (Sharma 2009).Item The role of national human rights institutions in enhancing the impact of children's rights in Africa(Pretoria University Law Press, 2020) Sloth- Nielsen, JuliaThis chapter contextualises the role played by National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) and their functional equivalents (such as ombudsmen) in the reporting process on children’s rights. As Ineke Boerifijn notes, NHRIs play a crucial role in the implementation of human rights at the domestic level. They bring a child-oriented focus to what were previously exclusively adult governance systems.Item Section 54: Obligation to report commission of sexual offences against children or persons who are mentally disabled(Juta Law, 2011) Sloth-Nielsen, JuliaINTRODUCTION: The duty to report the knowledge of the commission of sexual offences against certain vulnerable victims is newly provided for in this section of the Criminal Law (sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act. It draws inspiration from two prior reporting obligations related to the reporting child abuse and neglect: the first encapsulated in the Child Care Act 74 of 1983, now repealed in toto by the Children's Act 38 of 2005 (as amended); and the second provided for in s 4 of the Prevention of Family Violence Act 133 of 1993. The latter section, which was not repealed by the coming into operation of the Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998, has also been replaced by the coming into operation of the Domestic Violence Act 116 of 1998, has also been replaced with the Children's Act 38 of 2005, which came fully into force on 1 April 2010.Item Thirty years of the CRC in Africa(Routledge, 2021) Sloth-Nielsen, JuliaThis chapter reviews 30 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Africa. It notes that there has been significant upgrading and modernisation of child law throughout the continent, notably in child protection legislation, inspired by the norms and principles of the CRC. This reform has generally been aimed at setting up child protection systems, detailing how to respond to child abuse and neglect, and providing the basis for various forms of alternative care. Sporadically, juvenile justice laws have also been either included in overarching child protection laws or upgraded separately. Additional topics discussed include systems strengthening for child protection, access to justice, child participation, and the ongoing development of dedicated children’s courts. The contribution of social cash transfer programmes to alleviating child poverty is highlighted, and the chapter concludes that notwithstanding outstanding areas of concern (violence against children, armed conflict, and nutritional deprivation amongst others), some strides have been made in the 30 years under review to make children’s rights more visible.