Rights of Girl Children in International and Domestic Legislations
International human rights instruments
The human rights of children are set out in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most
widely ratified of all the human rights treaties. The Philippines ratified the CRC in July 1990 and
its two optional protocols, the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and
Child Pornography (OPSC), and the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed
Conflict (OPAC), on May 2002 and August 2003, respectively. The CRC defines a child to mean
“every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the
child, majority is attained earlier” (Art. 1)
It obliges State Parties to “respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to
each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's
or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status” (Art 2).
The CRC ensures the primary consideration is the best interests of the child in all undertakings.
State parties to the CRC are mandated to recognize the economic, social and cultural rights of
children; ensure the right to birth registration and to nationality of every child; protection and
safety; the right to live with a family; the right to be protected from violence; right to freedom
of expression, thought and religion; the right to freedom of association and peaceful assembly;
right to access to information; protection from all forms of violence; right to a refugee status;
right to health; right to social protection and adequate living standards; right to education; the
right to play; protection against torture; the right to reintegration and welfare of a child victim;
and the right of every child alleged as or accused of infringements of penal laws
The rights of the girl child to enjoy her human rights to the fullest extent has been addressed by
several UN treaties and treaty monitoring bodies. The Committees on CRC and CEDAW both
emphasizes the complementary and reinforcing nature of the conventions. As such, the right to
non-discrimination guaranteed by the CEDAW applies to girl children. CEDAW provides the
strongest wording against early marriage and calls for State Parties to abolish such practices.
Further, all rights enshrined in the Articles of CEDAW such as the right to the highest attainable
standard of health should be enjoyed by girls.
Other international commitments are also instructive. The International Labor Convention
provides frameworks of obligations concerning children. These include the ILO Convention No.
138 of 1973 or Minimum Age for Admission to Employment and the ILO Convention No. 182 of
1999 or Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child
Labour. Moreover, recently, the global commitments articulated in the Sustainable
Development Goals provides for the rights and full development of girl children. Girl children
are particularly mentioned in SDG 5 gender equality, SDG 3 health, and SDG 4 education.
National laws and policies
Several laws were enacted by Congress protecting the rights of children from all forms of abuse.
The R.A. 7610 or the Anti-Child Abuse Law which is the translation of the CRC specifies a wide
range of acts considered as child abuse and provides for stronger deterrence and special
protection against all forms of child abuse, exploitation and discrimination. This is a landmark
law protecting children from abuse. R.A. 7610 defines a child as:
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