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	The Kids are not all right by Joel Bakan Childhood Under Siege: How Big Business Targets Children Canada   Throughout history, societies have struggled with how to deal with children and childhood. In the United States and elsewhere, a broad-based “child saving” movement emerged in the late 19th century to combat widespread child abuse in mines, mills and factories. By the early 20th century, the “century of the child,” as a prescient book published in 1909 called it, was in full throttle.   Most modern states embraced the general idea that government had a duty to protect the health, education and welfare of children. Child labor was outlawed, as were the sale and marketing of tobacco, alcohol and pornography to children. Consumer protection laws were enacted to regulate product safety and advertising aimed at children.   By the middle of the century, childhood was a robustly protected legal category. In 1959, the United Nations issued its Declaration of the Rights of the Child. Children were now legal persons; the “best interests of the child” became a touchstone for legal reform.   But the 20th century also witnessed another momentous shift, one that would ultimately threaten the welfare of children: the rise of the for-profit corporation.   Lawyers, policy makers and business lobbied successfully for various rights and entitlements traditionally connected, legally, with personhood. New laws recognized corporations as legal — albeit artificial — “persons,” granting them many of the same legal rights and privileges as human beings.   In an eerie parallel with the child-protective efforts, “the best interests of the corporation” was soon introduced as a legal precept.   A clash between these two newly created legal entities — children and corporations — was, perhaps, inevitable. Century-of-the-child reformers sought to resolve conflicts in favor of children. But over the last 30 years there has been a dramatic reversal: corporate interests now prevail. Deregulation, privatization, weak enforcement of existing regulations and legal and political resistance to new regulations have eroded our ability, as a society, to protect children.   Childhood obesity mounts as junk food purveyors bombard children with advertising, even at school. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study reports that children spend more hours engaging with various electronic media — TV, games, videos and other online entertainments — than they spend in school.   Much of what children watch involves violent, sexual imagery, and yet children’s media remain largely unregulated. Attempts to curb excesses — like California’s ban on the sale or rental of violent video games to minors — have been struck down by courts as free speech violations.   Another area of concern: we medicate increasing numbers of children with potentially harmful psychotropic drugs, a trend fueled in part by questionable and under-regulated pharmaceutical industry practices. In the early 2000s, for example, drug companies withheld data suggesting that such drugs were more dangerous and less effective for children and teenagers than parents had been led to believe. The law now requires “black box” warnings on those drugs’ labels, but regulators have done little more to protect children from sometimes unneeded and dangerous drug treatments.   Children today are also exposed to increasing quantities of toxic chemicals. We know that children, because their biological systems are still developing, are uniquely vulnerable to the dangers posed by many common chemical compounds. We also know that corporations often use such chemicals as key ingredients in children’s products, saturating their environments. Yet these chemicals remain in circulation, as current federal laws demand unreasonably high proof of harm before curbing a chemical’s use.   The challenge before us is to reignite the guiding ethos and practices of the century of the child. As Nelson Mandela has said, “there can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”   By that measure, our current failure to provide stronger protection of children in the face of corporate-caused harm reveals a sickness in our societal soul. The good news is that we can — and should — work as citizens, through democratic channels and institutions, to bring about change.   * Joel Bakan, a law professor at the University of British Columbia, is the author of “Childhood Under Siege: How Big Business Targets Children.” Visit Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood via the link below. See also http://www.kidsandadvertising.co.uk/ Visit the related web page
	Honoring Human Rights Defenders by Human Rights Watch   August 2011   Seven courageous and tireless advocates for human rights will be honored in November 2011 with the prestigious Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism, Human Rights Watch said today. These activists from Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Russia, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe work to create a world in which people live free of violence, discrimination, and oppression.   The award is named after Dr. Alison Des Forges, senior adviser to Human Rights Watch"s Africa division for almost two decades, who died in a plane crash in New York on February 12, 2009. Des Forges was the world"s leading expert on Rwanda, the 1994 genocide, and its aftermath. Human Rights Watch"s annual award honors her outstanding commitment to, and defense of, human rights.   It celebrates the valor of people who put their lives on the line to protect the dignity and rights of others.   “From the centers of the Arab Spring to many other places where people who speak out are under threat, each of these defenders has shown incredible courage and persistence on behalf of others,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “We honor their strength and efforts, and hope that this award will increase international recognition of the abusive conditions they are trying to change.”   The recipients of Human Rights Watch"s 2011 Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism are:   Hossam Bahgat, Egypt   Hossam Bahgat was at the forefront of the revolution that swept Egypt in January and February 2011, documenting violence against protesters both during and after the Tahrir uprising. He has also stepped up efforts to spur lasting institutional change and build a more rights-respecting Egypt, while continuing his work on religious freedom and the right to privacy. During this historic time, the work of Bahgat and his organization, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, is more urgent than ever. Human Rights Watch honors Bahgat for upholding the personal freedoms of all Egyptians.   Sihem Bensedrine, Tunisia   Journalist and activist Sihem Bensedrine has worked for more than two decades to expose human rights violations in Tunisia and defend freedom of expression. She co-founded the National Council for Liberties in Tunisia; the Observatory for Freedom of the Press, Publishing, and Creation; and Kalima, an independent news website and radio station. Despite being imprisoned, beaten, and continually harassed by the recently ousted Ben Ali government, Bensedrine’s public commitment to human rights never faltered. Human Rights Watch honors Bensedrine for her tremendous courage and perseverance in speaking out against abuses and championing human rights reform in Tunisia.   Anis Hidayah, Indonesia   Anis Hidayah, executive director of Jakarta-based Migrant Care, speaks out on behalf of the millions of Indonesian women and men who seek work abroad to feed their families and who face serious risk of abuse. As Migrant Care and Human Rights Watch have both documented, Indonesian domestic workers in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait often work up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week. Many are not paid; some are confined, beaten, or raped by their employers. Human Rights Watch honors Hidayah for her dedication to exposing and ending egregious abuses against Indonesian migrant domestic workers.   Farai Maguwu, Zimbabwe   As director of Zimbabwe’s Center for Research and Development, Farai Maguwu has conducted extensive research documenting horrific abuses taking place in the Marange diamond fields. After Maguwu met with a monitor from the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (the world’s diamond control body) in May 2010 to discuss the abuses he uncovered in Marange, he was arrested, imprisoned, and tortured on charges of providing false information. Human Rights Watch honors Maguwu for his tremendous courage in working to end the rampant violations of human rights throughout the region.   Elena Milashina, Russia   As a leading investigative journalist for Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s most prominent independent newspaper, Elena Milashina exposes the truth about human rights abuses and government corruption. Despite Russia’s attempts to silence its critics and hide abuses, Milashina remains outspoken, publishing accounts of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and torture. She also plays an active role in the independent investigation into the murder of Natasha Estemirova, a leading Chechen human rights defender abducted and killed in 2009. Human Rights Watch honors Milashina for her courage to confront Russia’s deeply problematic human rights record.   Consuelo Morales, Mexico   Consuelo Morales works in Mexico to defend victims of human rights violations and hold their abusers accountable. Security forces there have committed widespread violations against civilians ­– including torture, rape, and “disappearances” – yet their crimes are virtually never investigated. In the face of persistent threats, Morales’s organization has led efforts in the state of Nuevo Leon to document these abuses, litigate key cases, and provide critical support for victims of both security forces and violent drug cartels. Human Rights Watch honors Morales for her courageous efforts to end impunity and aid victims of abuses in Mexico’s “war on drugs.”   Sussan Tahmasebi, Iran   Sussan Tahmasebi raises broad public awareness about how discriminatory laws violate the human rights of women in Iran. She conducts training in leadership and peace-building, and helped found the award-winning One Million Signatures Campaign, which rallies support for an end to Iran’s gender-biased laws. Tahmasebi has been harassed by security forces and was banned from traveling abroad because of her work. Human Rights Watch honors Tahmasembi for her fearless commitment to promoting civil society and bringing national prominence to women’s rights issues in Iran.   Human Rights Watch staff members work closely with the human rights defenders as part of the organization"s research into some 90 countries around the world. Visit the related web page
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