Sexual Abuse of Children: A Human Rights Perspective

“… this noteworthy book carefully examines the subtle and complex issues that should inform any discussion of child sexual abuse… This is compelling reading not only for child advocates and policymakers but for anyone interested in human rights.” —Library Journal How can international human rights law be used to help protect children at risk for sexual abuse? Should the definition of sexual abuse be allowed to differ among cultures? Should a country intervene in the internal workings of another with whom they disagree about approaches to the issue? What do notions of rights and law mean, and how could they be developed without placing more children at risk for abuse? This book begins the process of addressing these and other issues as it considers how human rights law can help detail what could and should be done to protect children from sexual maltreatment. Roger Levesque places particular emphasis on the ways in which abusive activities in different countries and societies are linked with one another and the way diverse societal views of children place them at risk. Throughout, Levesque brings together several intersecting debates in social science and law, as he pragmatically considers human rights law as a tool for combatting child sexual maltreatment.