Rights of the Child

The meaning of the child and the rights of the children

“Humanity has to do its best for the child.” Declaration of Geneva.

Definition of the child

Etymologically, the term “child” comes from the Latininfans which means ” the one who does not speak “. For the Roman, this term designates the child from its birth, up to the age of 7 years.

This notion evolved a lot through centuries and cultures to finally designate human being from birth until adulthood. But this conception of the child was wide and the age of the majority varied from a culture to an another.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 defines more precisely the term “child”: