Across the world, children continue to face serious threats, including violence, abuse, exploitation, and neglect. In many contexts, conflict and natural disasters force children from their homes, exposing them to the risks of displacement and unsafe migration. Issues such as trafficking, child labour, sexual exploitation, and early marriage remain widespread, making effective child protection systems essential. Ensuring that children’s rights are upheld is critical not only to protect them from harm, but also to support their healthy development and future opportunities.
This course, led by Jacqueline Bhabha of the Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, explores why child protection systems fail and what can be done to strengthen them. You will examine the legal frameworks, policies, and practical tools used to safeguard children, and understand how these apply across different professional contexts – from law and policymaking to education, healthcare, and humanitarian work. Through a child-rights-based approach, the course connects theory with practice, helping learners understand how protection systems function and how they can be improved. By the end, you will be equipped to apply child protection principles in your own work and contribute to preventing and responding to violence, exploitation, and abuse.
In this course, you will explore the foundations of child protection within international human rights law and understand how these frameworks shape policies and interventions across different contexts. You will learn how to analyze global child protection challenges and identify the wide range of actors involved in safeguarding children. The course also examines the impact of violence, exploitation, and abuse on children’s emotional, social, and physical development, along with practical strategies to prevent and respond to these harms. In addition, you will gain insight into protection standards for children affected by conflict or those in contact with legal systems, and develop the skills to assess and strengthen child protection systems in real-world settings.
