Canadian Children's Rights Council
Encyclopedia
The Canadian Children's Rights Council Inc. is a non-governmental organization
that is based in Toronto
, Canada
and was founded in 1991. It describes itself as a nonprofit
educational and advocacy organization dedicated to supporting the rights and responsibilities of Canadian children and providing critical analysis of governments' policies at all levels of government in Canada. Despite portraying itself as an organization that works for children's rights
, some scholars have described it as more concerned with men's
and father's rights.
Their website hosts a virtual library of books, position statements, historical and other documents, on subjects such as implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
, parental alienation
and parental alienation syndrome
, infanticide
, joint custody following divorce
, paternity fraud
, corporal punishment
, and female sex offender
s. The organization states that their website is the most visited website in Canada on the issues of children's rights and responsibilities.
s on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
. The group opposes corporal punishment including spanking, and promotes the idea of parent training in alternatives. The group's president, Grant Wilson, has stated "he believes women who abandon their babies should be charged with attempted murder
...", and that Canada's infanticide law should be repealed, as it devalues the lives of children, violates their rights, and is "a licence for women to kill babies." In both cases he argues that a defense of diminished capacity could be still used in cases involving post partum depression.
Wilson has stated that women frequently make false allegations of abuse during divorce, and that men are equally likely to be the victim of domestic violence. He has also called for tougher penalties, including for jail time, for mothers who deny fathers visitation rights with their children, and for mandatory paternity testing of all children at birth in order to prevent paternal discrepancy issues
.
While the organization positions itself as a children's rights
group, scholars and the media view the group and its president as men's and fathers' rights advocates. One academic comments that the group "has appropriated a discourse of children's rights as an anti-feminist strategy" and has adopted the acronym of the Canadian Coalition on the Rights of Children.
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
that is based in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and was founded in 1991. It describes itself as a nonprofit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
educational and advocacy organization dedicated to supporting the rights and responsibilities of Canadian children and providing critical analysis of governments' policies at all levels of government in Canada. Despite portraying itself as an organization that works for children's rights
Children's rights
Children's rights are the human rights of children with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to the young, including their right to association with both biological parents, human identity as well as the basic needs for food, universal state-paid education,...
, some scholars have described it as more concerned with men's
Men's rights
Men's rights is an umbrella term, encompassing the political rights, entitlements, and freedoms given or denied to males within a nation or culture....
and father's rights.
Activities
The organization researches, educates and advocates in the area of the rights and responsibilities of Canadian children. It lobbies the government, intergovernmental and NGOs about the issues related to their mandate, and have testified at Canadian provincial and federal committees and ministerial consultations.Their website hosts a virtual library of books, position statements, historical and other documents, on subjects such as implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention on the Rights of the Child
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children...
, parental alienation
Parental alienation
Parental alienation is a social dynamic, generally occurring due to divorce or separation, when a child expresses unjustified hatred or unreasonably strong dislike of one parent, making access by the rejected parent difficult or impossible...
and parental alienation syndrome
Parental alienation syndrome
Parental alienation syndrome is term coined by Richard A. Gardner in the early 1980s to refer to what he describes as a disorder in which a child, on an ongoing basis, belittles and insults one parent without justification, due to a combination of factors, including indoctrination by the other...
, infanticide
Infanticide
Infanticide or infant homicide is the killing of a human infant. Neonaticide, a killing within 24 hours of a baby's birth, is most commonly done by the mother.In many past societies, certain forms of infanticide were considered permissible...
, joint custody following divorce
Joint physical care
Joint physical care is when both parents share physical placement of the children. Simply defined, joint physical care allows the child to live with each parent 50% of the time during the year. Parenting plans are established to determine when each parent has the children living with them...
, paternity fraud
Paternity fraud
Paternity fraud refers to a paternal discrepancy or a non-paternity event, in which a mother names a man to be the biological father of a child, particularly for self-interest, when she knows or suspects that he is not the biological father. The term entered into common use in the late 1990s. It...
, corporal punishment
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
, and female sex offender
Sex offender
A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and by legal jurisdiction. Most jurisdictions compile their laws into sections such as traffic, assault, sexual, etc. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a...
s. The organization states that their website is the most visited website in Canada on the issues of children's rights and responsibilities.
Positions
The organization supports the existence of a national and provincial commissionerCommissioner
Commissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission ....
s on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
Convention on the Rights of the Child
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is a human rights treaty setting out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children...
. The group opposes corporal punishment including spanking, and promotes the idea of parent training in alternatives. The group's president, Grant Wilson, has stated "he believes women who abandon their babies should be charged with attempted murder
Attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.-Today:In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of more than merely preparing to commit unlawful killing and at the same time having a specific intention to cause the death of human being under the Queen's Peace...
...", and that Canada's infanticide law should be repealed, as it devalues the lives of children, violates their rights, and is "a licence for women to kill babies." In both cases he argues that a defense of diminished capacity could be still used in cases involving post partum depression.
Wilson has stated that women frequently make false allegations of abuse during divorce, and that men are equally likely to be the victim of domestic violence. He has also called for tougher penalties, including for jail time, for mothers who deny fathers visitation rights with their children, and for mandatory paternity testing of all children at birth in order to prevent paternal discrepancy issues
Paternity fraud
Paternity fraud refers to a paternal discrepancy or a non-paternity event, in which a mother names a man to be the biological father of a child, particularly for self-interest, when she knows or suspects that he is not the biological father. The term entered into common use in the late 1990s. It...
.
While the organization positions itself as a children's rights
Children's rights
Children's rights are the human rights of children with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to the young, including their right to association with both biological parents, human identity as well as the basic needs for food, universal state-paid education,...
group, scholars and the media view the group and its president as men's and fathers' rights advocates. One academic comments that the group "has appropriated a discourse of children's rights as an anti-feminist strategy" and has adopted the acronym of the Canadian Coalition on the Rights of Children.