Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory on the Rights of the Child

The Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory on the Rights of the Child opened its doors at the Faculty of Law in November 2019 under the Turkey Program of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) at Lund University, Sweden. The laboratory is open to all Özyeğin University members. The main goal of the laboratory is to put into action the approach to children’s rights underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. To this end, the laboratory aims to contribute to fulfilling the academic responsibility of mainstreaming the rights of children through the transformation of education, research and practice.

The laboratory’s priority fields of study are focused on transforming non-rights-based practices employed for the protection of children, and contributing to child-friendly policies and practices. The implications of rapid urbanization on children and children’s rights are also at the core of the laboratory’s activities. While urban spaces and rapid urbanization have a great potential for securing children’s rights, they also intensify current differences and create new challenges. Wherefore, the laboratory aims to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to study urbanization with all its dimensions that affect children’s rights and to carry out its activities with a solution-oriented approach that brings together all urban, national, and international stakeholders.

The long-term goal of the laboratory is to complete the laboratory’s organizational structure, and, as a first in Turkey, to broaden its focus to cover age studies, including studies on old age. Studies are funded by the Turkey Program of the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (RWI) at Lund University, Sweden, and Research World Istanbul.

The laboratory conducted two studies in 2019. The first of these studies was the network building workshop organized to pioneer for building the Academic Network for Children’s Rights. To this end, the workshop served to initiate cooperation in education, research, and practice among centers for children and academicians studying children at universities. The workshop was held on November 29, 2019 with the participation of the Child Culture Research and Application Center at Ankara University, Children's Rights Research and Application Center at Hacettepe University, Education Reform Initiative at Sabancı University, Children’s Studies Unit at Istanbul Bilgi University, International Children’s Center, Children's Rights Research and Application Center at Giresun University, Child Protection, Application and Research Center at Istanbul University, Social Policy Forum at Boğaziçi University, and Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory on the Rights of the Child at Özyeğin University. During the workshop, the Academic Network for Children’s Rights was established, and the network’s general activities and annual activities for the year 2020 were determined. The Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory on the Rights of the Child served as the first secretary of the network.

The second study was the “Towards Child Friendly Trial” workshop, which was organized with the participation of the Children’s Rights Commissions/Centers at bar associations across Turkey. The workshop “Towards Child Friendly Trial” was designed to draw attention to the legal processes pertaining to or affecting children, and the current professional situation in judicial procedures from the perspective of child-friendly trial, which is recognized as a measure in the Guidelines of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on child-friendly justice. The workshop also served to offer recommended solutions, explore opportunities for collaboration before, during, and after trial to fully enforce child friendly trial, and create a forum to this end. The workshop took place on December 6, 2019 with the participation of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations and the Children’s Rights Commissions from the Bar Associations of Ankara, Antalya, Balıkesir, Bursa, Diyarbakır, Gaziantep, Kırklareli, Konya, İstanbul, İzmir, and Trabzon. The results of the workshop will provide insights and guidance for future contributions of the network to bar associations across Turkey.