the reunification of the family, the right to maintain contact with his/her parents, the right to
maintenance, food, clean water and a healthy environment, to an adequate standard of living,
to respect for his/her private life, adoption, health and medical services, education, rest,
leisure, sports, recreational and cultural activities; the right to express his/her opinion on all
matters affecting the freedom of expression, freedom of thought, of conscience and religion;
freedom of association; social security, dignity and honour, welfare, the refusal of prewedding or marriage, access to appropriate information, revision of his/her placement, to
seek asylum and access to refugee status, to be guided by his/her parents. All these rights are
presented in sections 14 to 45.
There are no rights without duties and children are not exempt from reciprocal. According to
Article 46, the child must:
- Respect and honour his parents and other family members in all circumstances;
- Help and assist his parents and other family members to the best of his/her abilities;
- Work for the cohesion of the family and for the good of the society by placing his/her
physical and intellectual abilities at its disposal;
- Respect the identity, language and national values;
- Treat other children with dignity and respect;
- Contribute to the respect of human rights and children's rights;
- Observe the rules established by the society, the community, the Republic and the
international community;
- Participate in the maintenance of public order, health and public morality;
- Obey the public authority;
- Respect the property of others, public property and the environment;
- Contribute to the preservation and strengthening of the independence, national unity and
territorial integrity.
Title 3 of the law is devoted to protection against violence, neglect, abuse and exploitation. It
prohibits recruitment of children aged below eighteen years in the armed forces. Additionally,
it includes the prohibition of the use of corporal punishment and promotes the child's
placement or alternative protection solutions by adoption (Articles 49 to 59). The law also
addresses trafficking and abuse in Articles 60 and 61 clearly specifying that "trafficking
means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the
purpose of exploitation, regardless of the means used, through abduction, fraud, deception,
abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or by giving or receiving of payments or
benefits to obtain the consent of a person having control over the child, or in the absence of
these means and which results in the removal of the child regardless of the purpose of the
child's removal. »
The law prohibits female genital mutilation, honour killings and forced marriage (Article 62)
and the pregnancy of a child (Article 63). It also prohibits torture and cruel treatment and
deprivation of liberties. One chapter is devoted to protection against exploitation, including
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