I am interested in the development and implementation of children's rights law. What does children's rights law provide, and how do we make it meaningful to the lives of children around the globe? In short, how can children's rights law help secure both the rights and well-being of children and enable every child the opportunity to develop to his or her fullest potential?
Selected research projects:
- Children's Rights in Children's Literature.
- Human Rights in Children's Literature: Imagination and the Narrative of Law (Oxford University Press, 2016). See the "Human Rights in Children's Literature" page for more details.
- "A Person's a Person: Children's Rights in Children's Literature,” Columbia Human Rights Law Review, 45: 1-56 (2013) (lead author, with Sarah Higinbotham)
- Children's Rights and Human Trafficking:
- "Physician Encounters with Human Trafficking: Legal Consequences and Ethical Considerations," AMA Journal of Ethics, 19(1): 16-22 (2017)
- The Complexities of Conducting Research on Child Trafficking, JAMA Pediatrics, Online First, November 28, 2016 (lead author, with Leslie Wolf)
- Can Mandatory Reporting Laws Help Child Survivors of Human Trafficking?, Wisconsin Law Review Forward, 2016: 69-78 (2016).
- Responding to the Sexual Exploitation of Minors, New England Journal of Medicine, 370(14): 1282-1283 (April 3, 2014) (lead author, with Ellen Wright Clayton)
- A Child Rights Framework for Addressing Trafficking of Children, Michigan State International Law Review, 22: 557-593 (2014)
- Human Rights, Labor, and the Prevention of Human Trafficking: A Response to A Labor Paradigm for Human Trafficking, UCLA Law Review Discourse, 60: 142-158 (2013)
- Assessing Public Health Strategies for Advancing Child Protection: Human Trafficking as a Case Study, Journal of Law and Policy, 21: 93-112(2012)
- Widening Our Lens: Incorporating Essential Perspectives in the Fight against Human Trafficking, Michigan Journal of International Law, 33: 53-76 (2011)
- Moving Upstream: The Merits of a Public Health Law Approach to Human Trafficking, North Carolina Law Review, 89: 447-506 (2011)
- Taking Prevention Seriously: Developing a Comprehensive Response to Child Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, 43: 1-56 (2010)
- The Importance of Realizing “Other Rights” to Prevent Sex Trafficking, Cardozo Journal of Law & Gender, 12: 885-907 (2006)
- Prosecuting Sex Tour Operators in U.S. Courts in an Effort to Reduce the Sexual Exploitation of Children Globally, Boston University Public Interest Law Journal, 9: 1-23 (1999)
- Implementation of Children's Rights Law
- “Children’s Rights and Women’s Rights: Interrelated and Interdependent.” In Handbook of Children’s Rights: Global and Multidisciplinary Perspectives (Martin Ruck, Michele Peterson-Badali, and Michael Freeman, eds., New York: Routledge, 2017).
- Advancing Children’s Rights and Ensuring the Well-Being of Children, JAMA Pediatrics, 169(1): 5-6 (January 2015)
- The Elephant in the Playroom: The U.S. Government’s Role in Advancing Children’s Rights, PlayRights Magazine, 1(13): 23-25, 35-36 (International Play Association, 2013)
- Beyond the Bedside: A Human Rights Approach to Adolescent Health, Journal of Law and Policy, 20: 191-229 (2011)
- “At the Crossroads: Children’s Rights and the U.S. Government” in Human Rights in the United States: Beyond Exceptionalism, edited by Shareen Hertel & Kathryn Libal, 132-152. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
- Children’s Health in the United States: Assessing the Potential Impact of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Child Welfare, 89(5): 37-56 (2010)
- Inextricably Linked: An International Human Rights Perspective on Child Health and Education, Childhood Education, 85: 278-282(June 2009)
- Family Integrity and Children’s Rights: A U.N. Convention Perspective, Human Rights, 36(3): 20 (Summer 2009)
- Lawyers and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Law News, 38: 12-13 (ABA Section of International Law, Winter 2009)
- Rights Relationships and the Experience of Children Orphaned by AIDS, U.C. Davis Law Review, 41: 417-476 (2007)
- The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child: An Analysis of Treaty Provisions and Implications of U.S. Ratification (Brill Academic Publishers, 2006) (lead editor, with Mark Wojcik and Cris Revaz)
- The U.S. View of the Convention on the Rights of the Child—Time for Reconsideration, Children’s Rights Litigation, 8(4): 1, 3-6 (Fall 2006) (lead author, with Howard Davidson)
- Women’s Rights and Children’s Rights: A Partnership with Benefits for Both, Cardozo Women’s Law Journal, 10: 603-624 (2004)
- Birth Registration: An Essential First Step Toward Ensuring the Rights of All Children, Human Rights Brief, 10(3): 32-35 (Spring 2003)
- The Challenge of Creating ‘A World Fit for Children’, Human Rights Brief, 10: 18-21 (Fall 2002)
- Emerging Limitations on the Rights of the Child: The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and Its Early Case Law, Columbia Human Rights Law Review, 30: 159-200 (1998) -- Reprinted in Children’s Rights (Michael Freeman ed., Ashgate Publishing 2004)
- Children's Rights in Post-Disaster Settings
- Mainstreaming Children’s Rights in Post-Disaster Settings, Emory International Law Review, 25: 1233-1261 (2011)
- A Child Rights-Based Approach to Reconstruction in Haiti, Intercultural Human Rights Law Review, 6: 43-86 (2011)
- Accounting for Haiti’s Children after the Earthquake: Immediate Needs with Lifelong Consequences, American Society of International Law Proceedings, 104: 122-125 (2011).
- U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
- Optional Protocol to the CRC on the Involvement of Child in Armed Conflict
- Optional Protocol to the CRC on a Communications Procedure
- ILO Convention (No. 182) concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour
- Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, Supplementing the U.N. Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
Resources for research and advocacy initiatives on children's rights:
- Child Rights Connect (formerly the NGO Group for the CRC)
- Child Rights International Network (CRIN)
- Human Rights Education Associates (HREA)
- Human Rights Watch -- Children's Rights Division
- International Labour Organisation -- Child Labour
- University of Minnesota Human Rights Library