Child Protection in Latin America (focus in Argentina)

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Child Protection in Latin America (focus in
Argentina)
ISPCAN Global Institute San Diego, January 23rd,
2011
Irene Intebi Child Psychiatrist Clinical
Psychologist (Argentina) ISPCAN
Presidentireneintebi_at_gmail.com
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• LATIN AMERICA
• Every country includes many countries as a
  consequence of large territories with diverse
  ethnic composition, living conditions, and deep
  socioeconomic disparities. This diversity can be
  noted not only comparing the different main
  cities but the urban to the rural areas of the
  same country as well
• Characteristics of these societies
• Inequalities in income distribution associated
  with different levels of
• poverty
• marginalization and
• exclusion are the norm for high percentages of
  their populations
• Sexism
•  
•  

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  Child Protection Systems Strengths based on
the recommendations of the CRC
National legal frameworks for the protection of
children mandate bodies and agencies at
national, provincial/state, and municipal level
to defend the childrens rights.
Challenges following the mandates of the
national legislation, each province/state
formulates policies and guidelines within which
the municipal level agencies are to structure
their activities. Decision making about
developing, monitoring and implementing policies
is a responsibility of municipalities that manage
and coordinate service provisions.  
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    These systems of decentralization of policies
and services is, on one hand beneficial because
they encourage autonomy and culturally sensitive
policies and services but, on the other hand they
have as a downside the lack of coordination and
the differences in the quality and the
characteristics of each province/state activities
and service provision.  
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   Child Protection Systems   Most countries have
mandatory reporting of suspected cases of child
abuse and in most child sexual abuse and child
sexual exploitation are prosecuted. Some have
specific governmental agencies and programs to
deal with child sexual abuse and sexual
exploitation (e.g., Brazil, Colombia) while in
others the intervention relies on agencies and
programs that deal with victims and/or human
rights (e.g., Argentina) .  
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•  
•  Child Protection Systems
•  
• Challenges
• Systems are relatively new, under resourced and
  poorly coordinated and do not establish the
  different responsibilities of the sectors
  involved in order to provide coherent responses.
• Many professionals do not consider themselves
  working in systems with clear guidelines and
  lines of accountability to support them.
•  
• Translation of modern legislation into services
  and practices is a slow and full of obstacles
  path.
•  
•  

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ARGENTINA
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ARGENTINAFederation of 24 provinces and 1
autonomous city (City of Buenos Aires)2nd in
size in the continent2,766,890 km2 (1,068,302
sq.mi.)Population about 40 million (14 per
km2)Population under 18 (2001) 12.2 million
(32)Education compulsory FREE from 5-17
yrsLiteracy rate 97Highly urbanized
population (15.9 million in main city)
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http//www.youtube.com/watch?v
QX4p36lCpnM http//www.youtube.com/watch?viV
6FNRVaCvY
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• MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM
• The vast extension of the Argentinean territory
  and the political organization represent a
  challenge to the possibility of keeping reliable
  and comparable records.
• There are no studies addressing the magnitude of
  the problem. Governmental or university funded
  research in the field is practically
  non-existent. Research depends on individuals or
  small teams efforts and funding opportunities.
  This is true not only for child abuse and neglect
  topics but for many other issues (related to
  health and social aspects) and it represents a
  serious handicap Argentina is facing as many
  researchers emigrate to be able to develop their
  activities.

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• Data about sexual violence against children are
  scattered among the different agencies that keep
  records and statistics of cases, mainly the
  judicial system and the health care sector.
• There have been very few efforts focused on
  discussing shared definitions of different types
  of child abuse to apply nationally to adapting
  international ones or to selecting measurable
  indicators and methods that could be useful to
  measure the extent of the problem etc
• In urban areas, the population is moderately
  aware of the problem, usually depending on the
  attention given to the most severe cases by the
  media.

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• Population in general support the use of
  corporal punishment as a way to discipline
  children.
• Little is known about the mid- and long-term
  effects of child abuse and few consider child
  abuse to be a community problem. It is seen as
  one involving individual families and requiring
  individual professional responses.
• An epidemiologic investigation carried out in a
  small town in the Chubut province (Argentinean
  Patagonia) showed that 13.38 of the students
  aged 4-14 were suspected of suffering some type
  of child abuse and neglect. (Malerba et al.,
  2006)

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In 2005, National Law 26061 was passed. This
law protects the rights of children and
adolescents following the Convention on the
Rights of the Child standards.Some provinces
had passed their own Provincial legislation
before the national law was passed and other
provinces are in the process of adopting similar
legal regulations  
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• CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM
• Work in-progress with blind spots and
  neglected areas
• Strong differences from one province to the
  other
• Mandatory reporting nationally
• Lack of clarity and contradictions regarding on
  who/which agencies should intervene
• Offenders NOT victims are removed from home in
  intrafamilial violence cases

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• CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM
• Strengths
• Legal framework based in the CRC that has been
  incorporated to the Argentinean Constitution
• Multidisciplinary approach
• Offenders NOT victims are removed from home in
  intrafamilial violence cases

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• CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM
• Challenges
• Lack of public health policies to address child
  abuse and neglect cases
• Lack of awareness among policy-makers of the
  importance of having a policy to address this
  problem
• Low or non-existent budgets allocated to address
  the problem
• Lack of governmental and/or NGO resources
• Lack of network and/or collaboration between
  authorities professionals
• Lack of reliable information about the magnitude
  of the problem
• Lack of training opportunities for frontline
  workers

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• CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM
• Challenges
• Lack of specific treatment programs for victims,
  families and offenders
• Lack of awareness among the community, and among
  the professionals and policy makers as well, of
  the mid- and long-term consequences of child
  abuse and neglect
• No-mans lands in detection and intervention
  procedures together with overlapping of services
  in some other areas (e.g., municipal or local
  services that perform only referral tasks)
• Lack of national detection and intervention
  guidelines and protocols
• Lack of research
• Minimal preventive efforts that do not address
  the roots contributors to the problem

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Typical response to a CAN case
Referral by schools hospitals family members
(rarely) family itself
Multidisciplinary governmental agency
High risk referral to legal system w/ or w/o
treatment
Low risk referral to services
Moderate risk referral to CAN treatment program
(if available)
Agency has no legal authority to remove either
offender or victim
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• CHILD PROTECTION SYSTEM
• Major controversies
• Need to include the judicial system civil or
  criminal courts- in the intervention process
  cases vs. a family/community-based approach
  exclusively. Due to bad experiences and
  sometimes inadequate legal interventions-
  professionals do not trust effective outcomes
  will result of legal intervention. Solution
  mandatory training of all the professionals
  involved in the field?
• Importance of biological bonds vs. childs
  wellbeing and protection. In the last years,
  children have been forced to either live together
  with or visit their offender(s) just because
  he/she (they) is (are) his/her (their) parents or
  relatives. There is no awareness that biological
  bonds do not exclude a caregivers dangerous or
  risky behavior.

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ARGENTINA MISSING CHILDREN
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References
www.abuelas.org.ar www.hijos-rosario.org.ar
The Official Story (La Historia oficial)
movie/video
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References
Bokser, M. Guarino, M. (1992) DERECHO DE NIÑOS
O LEGITAMACIÓN DE DELITOS Ediciones Colihue
Buenos Aires (ARGENTINA) Movimiento Solidario de
Salud Mental (1987) TERRORISMO DE ESTADO
EFECTOS PSICOLÓGICOS EN LOS NIÑOS Paidós-
Buenos Aires (ARGENTINA)
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Background
On March 24, 1976 the military forces produced a
coup dêtat against a democratic elected
government established the Proceso de
Reorganización Nacional
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Background
There were rebellions in some regions of he
country (rural urban areas). There was
legislation the military Junta could apply to
fight terrorism LEGALLY but, based on the
Doctrine of National Security, chose ILLEGAL
REPRESSION clandestine procedures.
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Background
Not only people belonging to terrorist
organizations were repressed. Innocent people
were affected too. Anybody could be kidnapped,
tortured murdered.
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Method The Missing People

• Violent detentions

• Clandestine imprisonment

• Interrogation under torture

• Murder of victims

• Robbery of material belongings properties

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When?1976-1982
How many?30,000 persons (5-6 per night in
76-77)
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Where?
People were kidnapped by groups of armed forces
in civilian clothes at

• Home
• Work
• Schools
• Universities
• Streets
• Buses

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What next?

• Judges were not informed of detentions

• Illegal detentions, clandestine imprisonment
  interrogation under torture

• Clandestine detention centers (465 concentration
  camps) in military law enforcement buildings

• Robbery of personal belongings properties

• Children kidnapping /or appropriation

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• Kidnapping of babies children was part of an
  organized terrorizing plan consisting of
• murders
• tortures
• forced disappearance
• robbery other crimes
• committed by members of the armed law
  enforcement forces.

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How many children?
7,000 children adolescents victimized by the
kidnapping of one or two parents
450-500 babies born to missing mothers in
concentration camps
Only 300 documented reports
Approx. 71 children identified contacted by
biological families by 2001
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In 1977 the association of Abuelas (Grandmothers)
of Plaza de Mayo was constituted, dedicated
specifically to claim for the return of their
children to them, for the investigation of the
events regarding the disappearance and the search
for their disappeared children.
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In the 80s the association H.I.J.O.S. was
constituted, dedicated specifically to claim for
Justice their Right for their Identity, against
Oblivion Silence, and the punishment of the
persons responsible both of giving of executing
the orders to kidnap persons.
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The children who disappeared were deprived from
their identity, their religion, their right to
live with their family summarizing, of all the
rights that are national and internationally
recognized as their true rights. There is
concrete request from their relatives that the
children who were kidnapped as a method of
political repression be restored to their
legitimate families.
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Missing children have not been abandoned they
have the right to recover their own roots and
their own history, they have relatives who are
constantly engaged in searching for them.
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What happened to children?

• Some were kidnapped together with their parents

• Some were born to kidnapped mothers in
  concentration camps. Newborns were separated
  imediately after birth given to other people.
  Mothers were usually killed after.

• Some were looked after by neighbors till they
  could find their relatives return them to them.

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What happened to children?

• Some were looked after by neighbors who couldnt
  locate their relatives immediately but who took
  care of children until relatives were located
  some years later

• Some were taken to the authorities as John Does
  adopted. Adoptive families didnt know where
  babies came from.

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What happened to children?

• Some neighbors kept the children with them,
  hiding the real facts to children preventing
  them from knowing their families.

• Some remained with relatives of one of the
  parents who wouldnt tell out of fear or out of
  lack of information about other side of the
  family.

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How were the children searched by their relatives?

• Investigation in the Courts nationwide of all
  the adoptions granted since 1976, including John
  Does cases

• Investigation of all cases of births registered
  in governmental agencies after the normal legal
  term for such registration had elapsed

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How were the children searched by their relatives?

• Since 97, awareness creation among young people
  (approximately the age range of the kidnapped
  children) that may have doubts regarding their
  true identity

• Awareness creation in the community, encouraging
  those who might have information but who kept
  silence, whether due to complicity or fear, to
  come forward.

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Scientific methods to identify children
Grandparenthood rate

• With the contribution of
• Dr. Fred Allen (New York Blood Center)
• American Asociation for the Advance of Science
  (Washington)
• Dr. Mary Claire King Dr. Cristian Orrego
  (Berkeley University)

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Scientific methods to identify children
Grandparenthood rate (allows 99.9 certainty)

Blood group RH Histocompatibility (HLA, A, B,
C, DR) Identification of red globe
isoenzymes Identification of plasmatic proteins
Molecular fingerprint DNA polymorphism method
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Why do we consider missing children as a type of
CAN?
Because

• Children were abruptly separated from parents
  they were not abandoned BUT stolen illegally
  appropriated

• Their true identity was hidden their names,
  their birth day, sometimes their age were
  changed. In some cases false birth certificates
  were provided

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Why do we consider missing children as a type of
CAN?
Because

• Some went through apparently legal adoptions
  though authorities knew their origin, they were
  labeled as John Does

• Children were murdered in kidnapping procedures

• Babies were murdered together with their
  mothers before birth

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Why do we consider missing children as a type of
CAN?
Because

• Pregnant women were tortured, raped vexated

• Children had to live together with were
  brought up by adults who established their bonds
  based on the kidnapping murder of biological
  parents

• In most cases both the adults who kept the
  children the Government tried to delete the
  links/bonds with their real origins

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Restitution
Reintegration of a baby or a child victim to
his/her family by means of a lawsuit or a
non-legal procedure.

Action, procedure right of a child to restore
him/herself as a human being, after recovering
his/her real identity, history, family bonds.
Includes the possibility of recovering from the
damage inflicted by the crime.
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Restitution

• Where are these children?

• Who are they living with?

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Restitution

• What are the effects of this forced
  disappeareance
• of children?

• Have these children suffered or are they
  suffering any harm? Could they sue for
  reparations? Of what kind? Who should be sued?

• How would this claim be based on? What legal
  instruments should be applied?

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Restitution

• What are the basis to claim for restitution?
  What are its reaches?

• Which could be the actual or potential risks of
  no restitution?

• What are the laws regulations that could be
  applied to guarantee validity efficiency?

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Restitution

• Who are the legitimate representatives of these
  children in order to argue for their cause
  interests?

• Is it worthy to start the restitution
  proceedings or is it better to leave things the
  way they are?

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Restitution

• Until October 2010, 102 children adolescents
  were found.
• In 2001, 71 had been found
• Restored adolescents 41
• Murdered children 9
• Cases still in the courts 7
• Children still living with the families that
  brought them up 14

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Legal aspects
1986 Ley de Obediencia Debida (Due Obedience
Law) 1987 Ley de Punto Final (Termination Point
Law) Grant an amnesty to the persons with a
responsibility in the repressive process to
repressors tried found guilty

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Legal aspects
Kidnapping of children is considered a crime
against mankind was not included in those laws.
This crime does not prescribe.

1989 3 articles are included in the Convention
for the Rights of Children Articles 7 8
(Argentinean articles), 11
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Subject Fw Hijo de desaparecidos busca su
hermano Date Wed, 02 Jul 2003 130709 -0300
Disculpen la molestia.Mi nombre es Diego
Olivares, tengo 23 años y soy de nacionalidad
argentina Soy hijo de padres desaparecidos
durante la dictadura militar argentinafines de
1979 y principios de 1980. Ellos eran Juan
Olivares (25 años en el día de su desaparición) y
Julieta Alzugaray(23años). La razón de este mail
es encontrar a mi hermano dado en adopción
después de la desaparición de mis padres.
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He intentado encontrarlo a través de varios
caminos sin llegar a obtener resultados certeros.
Un amigo me comento acerca de estas cadenas de
mail y me decidí a realizarla con la esperanza
de que mi hermano al leerla (o alguna persona
cercana a el) se comunique conmigo para realizar
el esperado reencuentro.  
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Para ello necesito de su ayuda. He consultado en
varios organismos gubernamentales y de derechos
humanos,así como H.I.J.O.S. y MADRES DE PLAZA DE
MAYO, sin llegar a obtener información certera.
Los únicos datos que me han dado es que existen
sospechas de que mi hermano podría haber sido
dado en adopción, con el nombre de ALEXIS
FRENETTE, a una pareja de franceses o bien
podría estar en el país con cualquier otro
nombre.
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Por favor envíen este mail a cuanta persona
conozcan con la esperanza de poder reencontrarme
con mi hermano y llegar a tan ansiado dia. Si
tienen alguna información, escríbanme a mi
dirección de e-mail diegoolivares_at_hotmail.com,
ya que esa es la única forma de contactarme,por
lo que no poseo aposento propio y estoy en
continuo movimiento. Muchas gracias, Diego
Olivares PD copien este email y péguenlo en
otro nuevo así no se acumulan piquitos al
principio del renglon. gracias
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Child Abuse Neglect in Latin AmericaDr.
Irene Intebi, M.D. Clinical Psychologist
(Argentina)ISPCAN Presidentireneintebi_at_gmail.com