When children’s rights are violated
The better children’s rights are understood, the better they can be respected. The best legal protection for children is ensuring their rights are not violated in the first place. However, children’s rights are not always realised as well as they could be – or at all.
Safeguarding and monitoring children's rights by authorities
Violations of children’s rights endanger children’s growth and development. The pursuit of legal remedies is also often very slow, relative to a childhood. For children, it would therefore be best if violations did not occur in the first place. This requires that legislation adequately safeguards children’s rights, that professionals in different fields know the rights of children and can apply them and that children’s living environments support their wellbeing and development.
However, children’s rights are not universally realised. It is therefore important that children, parents and guardians, as well as professionals in different fields, know what rights children have, ensuring that problems can be addressed. Depending on the situation, a child’s voice in a matter concerning their rights may be exercised either by the child themselves or by a parent, guardian or other legal representative.
The realisation of children’s rights is monitored and overseen by a number of authorities; children’s rights are broad in scope and different authorities have different roles. The roles of a few key authorities in safeguarding children’s rights are described below. You can read more about the roles of these authorities on their respective websites.
The role of different authorities in safeguarding children's rights:
Violations of children’s rights are monitored by a number of different authorities. Below you can read about the roles of various authorities, and find more detailed information on each authority’s own website.
You may contact the Parliamentary Ombudsman if you are subject to unfair treatment or mistreatment by a public authority or official, if you have not received services to which you are entitled by law or if you believe that your fundamental and/or human rights have not been realised. Anyone may submit a complaint to the Ombudsman – including children themselves.
Read more on the Parliamentary Ombudsman website (oikeusasiamies.fi).
The Ombudsman for Children evaluates and promotes the implementation of children’s rights at a general level and in decision-making processes and legislation. The Ombudsman draws decision-makers’ attention to children’s rights and influences social decision-making by advocating on behalf of children. The Ombudsman does not have the power to decide individual cases concerning children or families, nor can the Ombudsman overrule decisions made by other authorities.
Read more on the Ombudsman for Children website (lapsiasia.fi).
The Non-Discrimination Ombudsman is an autonomous and independent authority whose task is to promote equality and prevent discrimination. You may contact the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman if you suspect that you have experienced or observed discrimination. The Ombudsman provides advice and guidance and can assist in clarifying instances of suspected discrimination and promoting a settlement between parties.
Read more on the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman website (yhdenvertaisuusvaltuutettu.fi).
Did you know?
Discrimination refers to the unfair treatment or mistreatment of an individual based on protected characteristics.
Grounds for discrimination prohibited by the Non-discrimination Act are age, origin, nationality, language, religion, belief, opinion, political activity, trade union activity, family relationships, state of health, disability, sexual orientation and other personal characteristics.
If someone feels that they have been mistreated by healthcare or social welfare services, they can consult the Patient Ombudsperson or Social Services Ombudsperson. Both bodies are responsible for providing advice, informing clients about their rights and, where necessary, assisting in drafting complaints.
The contact details of the Patient Ombudsperson and the Social Welfare Ombudsperson can be obtained from your wellbeing services county, the City of Helsinki, HUS, or directly from the service provider whose activities the matter concerns.
The Finnish Supervisory Agency monitors services such as child welfare, basic education, and early childhood education and care. It investigates whether children and young people have been treated appropriately, for example in residential care homes and schools. The Authority also supervises healthcare services.
If a child or young person believes that they have been treated unlawfully in a service to which they are entitled, they or their guardian may submit a complaint to the Finnish Supervisory Agency.
Read more of submitting a complaint to the Finnish Supervisory Agency (lvv.fi)
Legal aid refers to the provision of legal assistance, wholly or partly funded by the State, for the handling of a legal matter. For those on low incomes, legal aid is free of charge; others must pay part of the costs themselves. The national legal aid advisory service can provide general advice and guidance.
The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure entered into force in Finland in 2016. Children and groups of children have the right to submit complaints to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which monitors implementation of the Convention, if they consider a State Party to have violated their rights. All available domestic remedies must first have been exhausted before a complaint can be submitted.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child issues its views and, where necessary, recommendations on the basis of complaints it examines. However, the Committee does not examine all complaints, for example, if it considers that domestic remedies have not been exhausted or the matter is being or has been examined as part of another international investigation or settlement.
Individual communications have also been submitted to the Committee from Finland, however not all of these have been taken up for consideration. In a decision issued in 2024, the Committee found that Finland had violated the rights of Sámi Indigenous people to culture and land by granting mineral exploration permits on their territory (valtioneuvosto.fi) without an impact assessment or adequate participatory process. In a 2022 decision, the Committee found that Finland had violated the rights of Finnish children at the Al-Hol camp in Syria.
Read more about the Committee on the Ombudsman for Children’s website (lapsiasia.fi)
