Children Rights in the Russian Federation

Introduction The Russian Constitution, which was adopted in 1993, provides

for the state protection of childhood, motherhood, and the family.  According to the Constitution, hundreds of laws, presidential decrees, government resolutions, executive regulations of specific agencies, and legal acts of the constituent components of the Russian Federation are supposed to secure rights of children.  The primary documents in this field are the Family Code of the Russian Federation  and the Federal Law on Basic Guarantees of the Rights of the Child in the Russian Federation of July 21, 1998. Child protection policy is also affected by the implementation of relevant provisions of such legislative acts, as the Civil Code, Labor Code, Housing Code, Criminal Code, Criminal Correctional Code, Fundamentals of Health Care Legislation, Federal Law on State Assistance to Individuals having Minor Children, Federal Law on State Support of Youth and Children’s Organizations, Federal Law on Social Assistance, and many others. 

It appears that from the legal point of view, such basic rights as the right to life, dignity, personal inviolability, housing, education, freedom of movement, social security, protection of health and health assistance, access to cultural values, and others are protected. 

The economic and social crisis impactThe economic and social crisis of the 1990s affected the

area of children’s rights substantially.   Until 2003, payment of social assistance subsidies was constantly delayed, and even if money was received by children and parents having minor children, it did not have a positive impact on the economic situation in the family because of its insignificant amount and inflation.  The situation was complicated by the dismantling of the previously existing traditional structures of social protection.  Difficulties in family relations impacted the health and welfare of children most.  For example, between 1994 and 2003, the population of children in Russia decreased by 4.4 million; approximately eighty percent of all high school graduates have significant health problems.

Government or presidential programs

Several programs aimed at creating opportunities for children’s development and protection of their rights were developed by the federal government and the President of Russia.  These programs are dedicated to such aspects as the development of gifted children, the organization of summer vacation for children, protection of children whose parents are refugees or forced migrants, treatment of Chernobyl catastrophe victims, family planning, counteraction to drug abuse, and some others.  According to Russian tradition, issues included in government or presidential programs receive better financing; their implementation is better controlled by the responsible government agencies; and legislative support is provided.

KNOWLEDGE ON CHILD RIGHTS The promotion of child rights is significant in that it serves as a starting point for children to become aware of their rights, and to exercise them for their own benefit without violating the rights of others. With this in mind, the working team conducted a survey of knowledge on child rights.Based on questions in the questionnaire, the conclusions were as follows:Most children had some knowledge about children’s rights

(59.13 per cent), and 17.24 per cent of the children indicated that they had sufficient knowledge about children’s rights. A considerable number of respondents said they knew nothing about the matter (13.79 per cent), and 9.84 per cent did not express an opinion.The majority of the children surveyed (72.76 per cent) wanted to have the issue of child rights included in the curriculum, while only 8.79 per cent did not, with 18.45 per cent having no preference

Training and publications on child rights

In terms of training and publications on child rights, 43.97 per cent of the children indicated that they would like this to beprovided in schools through various media channels, while 38.44 per cent did not. A significant number did not indicate an opinion on this issue (17.59 per cent).

Therefore, it can be seen that knowledge on child rights in Russia still needs to be promoted and supported with a great deal of effort,extending to both children and adults all over the country.

Child Health and Social Welfare According to the Constitution, social welfare is

guaranteed to everyone because of age, for the upbringing of children, and in other cases established by law.   Under the Federal Law on State Subsidies to Individuals with Children, monetary assistance is provided in the following forms:

assistance during pregnancy and for childbirth; one-time assistance to the women who registered with

medical institutions during the early terms of pregnancy; monthly assistance during the eighteen-month maternity

leave period after the child birth; monthly assistance for each child until the child reaches

the age sixteen or graduates from an educational institution, but no later than eighteen years.

Disabled Children An especially difficult situation exists with the implementation of the

health care rights of disabled children and children with special needs.  The number of such children is about 205 per 10,000 children. These children are not treated equally to others.  Russia still needs to make progress in this area and offer more accommodation, as well as infrastructure and personnel for disabled children.  The perceived general Russian mentality towards the handicapped also needs to change and come to consider that these children as an integral part of society and not exclude them.

 The rights of disabled children are specified in the Family Code of the Russian Federation.

Social welfare policy Social welfare policy is not limited to the distribution of

monetary subsidies to particular groups in the population.  It includes the system of social and psychological support to minors who find themselves in difficult circumstances.  These include orphans; homeless children; children with disabilities; victims of armed conflicts, natural calamities, catastrophes, and domestic violence; children forced into prostitution; juvenile criminals; and children involved in drug use.  Medical, social, and psychological support services have been established under each regional department of education

The Right to Education The right to education is secured by article 43 of the

Constitution and is guaranteed by Federal Laws on Education. The first level of organized education consists of preschool institutions, called kindergarten, the second level is Primary and secondary education and the third is High Schools

Kindergarten

The first level of organized education consists of preschool institutions, called kindergarten, which cater for children from two months up to six years.  Although they are heavily subsidized by the state, parents of children attending kindergarten have to pay a fee depending on family income and the length of daily stay of a child in the kindergarten. Attendance in kindergarten is not obligatory.

Primary and Secondary Schools

Primary and secondary education in Russian schools is combined, and children between six and sixteen years of age attend comprehensive secondary school. The education is free.

High School

After finishing the 9 form of a secondary school young people can continue their education in the 10th and 11th form. They can also go to a vocational or technical school, where they study academic subjects and receive a profession. A college gives general knowledge in academic subjects and a profound knowledge in one of several subjects. It’s free of charge.

The Right to Protection

Every child should be protected, within the family as well as within the state. In Russia, there are still many children without protection. As a result, orphanages and boarding schools are full (more than 150,000 children were reported in 2009), since there are only very few institutions to care for these children or work on their adoption.

There are few alternatives available for these children, who have been abandoned or are without families. They sometimes become street children and are confronted with poverty, sickness and violence. As a result, some children are not able to grow up in a stable and well-adjusted family setting, in accordance with the principles outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Right to non-discrimination

Homosexuality is still far from being a part of everyday life in Russia. Homosexuals, including adolescents, are constantly victims of homophobia. The Russian police use force to ban demonstrations by people asserting their right to homosexuality. Homosexual adolescents do not have the right to freely live with their sexual orientation and the hate that the rest of the population shows towards them is very alarming.

Right to Freedom of Expression

Even though Russian legislation guarantees the freedom of expression, in practice, this freedom remains limited: the media are highly controlled, opponents or defenders of human rights are very often threatened in certain regions, and the government is known for its relatively strict policy of censoring.  These restrictions prevent Russian children from exercising their right to information and to freely express themselves, in violation of Art. 13 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Right to live

With a high rate of 10.9 tons of CO2 emissions per inhabitant per year, the negative ecological footprint in Russia also has a harmful impact on the lives of Russian children and on their future prospects, thus violating their right to live and grow up in a healthy environment.

The Right to Health Care Child health in Russia is significantly worse than in other

industrialized countries. According to official statistics, only one child in five is born healthy. The inability of more than half of all new mothers to breast-feed, mainly because of poor diet, further undermines infants' health in a country where diets generally are unbalanced. Another problem is that most women of childbearing age are employed and thus must place their young children in day care centers, where they often contract contagious diseases. Illnesses such as diphtheria, pertussis, and poliomyelitis are widespread among Russia's children. Vaccines are scarce. Even when immunizations are available, parents often refuse them for their children because they fear infection from dirty needles.

The Right to labor

The law sets the minimum age of employment at 16 years, with some exceptions. Children who have either completed their basic general education or have left the general educational system may work at age 15. With parental consent, children at least 14 years may perform light work that is not harmful to their health or education, and children younger than 14 may participate in the creation and/or performance of art works that are not harmful to their health and moral development. The working time for employees younger than 16 years should not exceed 24 hours per week, or exceed 36 hours per week for employees between 16 and 18 years.

Child’s Rights in a family More than 25 % of respondents did not know the document

where the rights were fixed, 61,3% mentioned Constitution or Human Rights Declaration, 7,7% - Criminal or Family Codes or separate laws . A few of them wrote about Convention on Child’s Rights or Child’s Rights Declaration.

86,2 % answered that their rights in the family were respected, 5,9 % of them gave negative answers and 7,9 % did not give any answer. But many respondents were sure that physical punishment did not violate their rights. 40 % of them confirmed their physical punishment in the family. Two from each five respondents confirmed conflicts with parents. The number of conflicts usually increases among 12-13 aged adolescents- 53 % of respondent gave positive answer, the number of conflicts lowers among elder adolescents.

Conclusion The adoption of legislation that declares children’s rights, as well as joining

international legal instruments, did not improve the implementation of those rights automatically.  Together with many other related measures, however, such as developing policies to ensure the enforcement of existing laws, extending federal assistance to those who raise  children, introducing new forms of care over children without parental oversight, adapting criminal procedures to the needs of minors, passing social legislation, and better funding for social, juvenile, and educational services, may change the situation and indicate that Russia has moved to a higher level of legal and political thinking. 

In spite of the efforts of the international community and Russia’s non-governmental organizations, there is no machinery yet for making Russia a country with a developed legal system and enforceable legislation aimed at the protection of children.  It all depends on the degree of realization by Russia’s leadership of the gravity of this problem and on its civilized standards for solving it effectively and protecting its underage population.