A child is a person and not a sub-person over whom the parent has an absolute possessory interest. The term "child" does not necessarily mean minor but can include adult children as well as adult nondependent children. Children are generally afforded the basic rights embodied by the Constitution. There are both provincial and federal sources of child-rights laws; - Legal Information Institute. I have always wondered just what a child's rights were in the world and more importantly what exactly child abuse entails. Technically as a 17 year-old I am considered a child or "minor" under the law, therefore this is an issue that is of great concern to me. Internationally children unquestionably lack in legal rights, although in the many cases of child abuse, including mental, physical and sexual abuse; the law takes children more seriously and their protection is of the utmost importance and also, today's society plays a huge role in the forms of abuse on minors. .
Child maltreatment is the general term used to describe all forms of child abuse and neglect. There is no one commonly accepted definition of "child abuse and neglect." The Federal Government defines child abuse and neglect in the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act as "the physical and mental injury, sexual abuse, negligent treatment, or maltreatment of a child under the age of 18 by a person who is responsible for the child's welfare under circumstances which indicate that the child's health or welfare is put to harm or threatened". In many cases child abuse is something that occurs in the home, this makes the rights of that child seem to lessen even more because the person who they are being harmed by are their own parent, guardian or family member; the person who is ultimately responsible for their life. Mental abuse is a very common case in relation to child maltreatment. In most cases mental abuse occurs between a parent to a child, a caretaker to a child and even surprisingly a teacher to a student.
