Page 125 - Human Rights

Faculty of Nursing
Adult care Nursing Department

Staff whose primary responsibility is to care for and protect children – and this can include nurses

– are sometimes the perpetrators of abuse.
Abuses against children who are refugees or internally displaced have also been reported.

Nurses, on the other hand, may find themselves in a position where they are aware of abuses and

in a position to take action, either through observations in clinics and health centers or through a

programmed of nurse home visits.

Equally, school nurses can be early witnesses to the effects of child abuse in the home, school or
community.

This represents an important avenue to contribute to child protection; equally, “whistle-blowing”

by nurses –

where colleagues or others are involved in abuses or where there is a lack of action by the
authorities – can accelerate the implementation of measures to better protect an at-risk child.

One likely outcome of judicial investigation into child abuse is that decisions will be taken about

the future living arrangements of the child.

However, whatever that arrangement might be, the Convention on the Rights of the Child specifies
(at provisions 12.1 and 12.2) that, taking account of their age and maturity, children should be

consulted on any matters likely to affect them such as their living arrangements and parental

access.

The Convention also stresses, at Article 3, that in any such measures or decisions concerning the
child, “whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law,

administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary

consideration”.

114 Academic Year 2025/2026