User:Hipersons/sandbox/Right to be heard

The right to be heard is a child rights principle as defined by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. According to Article 12 of the Convention, children have the right to express their views in all matters affecting them and their views have to be given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child. This right applies equally to children’s participation in social and political matters as well as in judicial and administrative proceedings. As a general principle, the child’s right to be heard reflects the concept of children‘s ‘agency’, viewing children not only as vulnerable persons in need of special protection, but also as informed decision makers, rights holders and active members of society.

The right to be heard from Article 12 relates closely to other articles under the Convention, which together form the so-called ‘participatory rights’ of children and underline the understanding of children as citizens who are rights holders. These articles include:
 * Article 13 - the child’s right to seek, receive and impart information
 * Article 14 - freedom of thought, conscience and religion
 * Article 15 - freedom of association.

Trust
Trust is a key element of encouraging a child to express their views. Recommendations (from where?) for creating trust and for ensuring that children have meaningful opportunities to be heard include:
 * Demonstrate that you care for and respect the child as a person.
 * Ask the girl or boy how she or he is, how she or he feels at the accommodation and if there is anything she or he needs.
 * Engage in a gentle conversation with the child about day-to-day matters.
 * Show empathy and express positive feelings and talk to the child about things that are important to the child and that interest her or him.
 * Sense if the child is comfortable talking with you, reassure the child and give the child a feeling of control of what is happening.
 * Make the meeting room child-friendly, even with minor accessories and gestures.
 * Introduce yourself and explain your professional role.
 * Explain the purpose of your meeting and what the meeting is about, why you are there to talk to the child and what will happen afterwards.
 * Allocate sufficient time to speak to the child and to listen.
 * Make available quality interpretation and cultural mediation wherever required.
 * Give the child time to reflect about the information you shared, to digest it and to come back for a second or third meeting, if and as required and appropriate.
 * Ask the child if she or he has understood the information and to explain what they understood, and take time to ask the questions you need to ask.

Age-sensitive communication
In the cases of younger children or children with impaired cognitive skills, the child’s participation can be encouraged through adequate communication methods such as drawing or play, observation of the child’s behaviour in interaction with family members, care staff and the environment. Adapting the language to the age and development of the child is imperative to ensure that the child can understand the issues at stake and express her or his feelings and views.

National laws usually define age limits regarding at what age children have the right to contact social services on their own initiative, to be heard in judicial and administrative procedures, to act as a litigant or party to a case, to appeal against decisions, to complain and seek redress. The age limits defined under national law differ between countries and, in some cases, also between the various laws applying to different groups of children and contexts. The right of younger children to be heard is often not addressed in the same way as the right of adolescents. Special measures nationally ensure that younger children are not excluded from exercising their rights under Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Gender considerations for the right to be heard
For some children, the gender of the interviewer, interpreter, cultural mediator, guardian or care staff may change his or her willingness to express himself or herself. The relevance of gender depends on the experiences that children have previously made with men and women in their homes and communities, during the journey or in places of destination. Traditional gender roles and relations can also play a role. The gender identity of the child should be respected.

Quality interpretation and cultural mediation
Interpreters can influence the information gathering process in asylum procedures and criminal investigations as they have an impact on how the child’s disclosure is being understood and perceived. Inaccurate translation might compromise the child’s statement to the effect that decisions are taken on the basis of incorrect information. This relates not only to the content translated but also to the style and semantic choices made by the child and how these are rendered by the interpreters.

In addition to training and recruiting qualified interpreters, it is important to provide for the following:
 * Clarify, which authority is responsible for providing interpretation.
 * Make the participation of an interpreter mandatory whenever a child does not master the official language of the interview.
 * Avoid the use of informal interpreters, such as family members, other children, other asylum seekers or staff.
 * Use telephone interpretation when a qualified and suitable interpreter is not available locally. Distance interpretation may be preferable to protect the child’s privacy when sensitive issues are at stake and when the diaspora representing the needed language in the country of destination is particularly small.
 * Train law enforcement officers, immigration officials and other interviewers as well as the interpreters on how to collaborate in the context of interviews with children.
 * Develop standard procedures with due consideration to quality and ethical standards of interpretation and confidentiality rules.
 * Train interpreters to act also as cultural mediators.

Enabling communication with children in transnational cases
Many children feel reluctant to share information with the authorities due to fears that disclosing information might not be in their interest and that telling their story might lead to return. Children might have been instructed by third persons to reveal only certain parts of their story, there might be threats and fears of reprisals involved and the child might not trust that the police and local authorities will be able to protect them. A reception system that demonstrates respect and upholds the dignity of the child can achieve to foster a sense of trust in the child towards the officials and professionals whom she or he meets with. Interpreters can influence the information gathering process in asylum procedures and criminal investigations as they have an impact on how the child’s disclosure is being understood and perceived. Inaccurate translation might compromise the child’s statement to the effect that decisions are taken on the basis of incorrect information. This relates not only to the content translated but also to the style and semantic choices made by the child and how these are rendered by the interpreters.

Hearing a child in investigations and proceedings
As a general rule, child victims of crime have a right to be protected from harm and secondary victimisation during investigations and proceedings. Important standards for this context are afforded under the UN Guidelines on Justice in Matters Involving Child Victims and Witnesses of Crime, the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse and the 2011 EU Anti-Trafficking Directive.

The following can be done to protect children from harm in investigations and proceedings:
 * Child victims of crime have a right to be protected from unnecessary repetition of interviews during the investigation, prosecution and trial.
 * Video recorded interviews or other appropriate communication technologies can be used in order to avoid that a child victim or witness has to give evidence in open court and to prevent visual contact between victims, witnesses and defendants.
 * Interviews with child victims shall be carried out by specifically trained professionals and, if possible, the same person shall conduct all the interviews with the child.
 * Interviews shall be conducted in a child-friendly environment.
 * The Children’s House model is a good practice for conducting forensic interviews and gathering evidence from child victims of crime. (according to whom?)

Forensic interviews
Research and experience show that the interview style and the type of questions asked matter for the quality of the interview. They can have a direct impact on the child’s readiness to disclose information. They influence also the type and quality of information, and the level of detail, that the child is able and willing to share. The interviewer can facilitate the child’s disclosure by prioritising open questions while avoiding closed and focused questions, suggestive prompts and leading questions. It is particularly important that interviewers take on a neutral bearing, that they are open and empathic, while avoiding criticism and confrontations. The same applies to interpreters who need to be aware of these details in order to transmit the interview style and bearing accordingly.