INTERNATIONAL LEGAL MECHANISMS FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE AND ISSUES OF IMPROVING NATIONAL LEGISLATION

Abstract

This article provides a scientific analysis of international legal mechanisms for protecting the rights of child victims of violence, their content, practical significance, and issues of improving national legislation. The study highlights forms of violence against children, such as physical, mental, sexual, neglect, exploitation, and bullying, and reveals their impact on the child’s personality, mental state, and social development. The role of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Lanzarote Convention, the Beijing Rules, and other universal and regional international legal instruments in protecting child victims will also be studied. The article focuses on the best interests of the child, the prevention of re-victimization, child-friendly justice, and mechanisms for rehabilitation and reintegration. Based on systematic, legal, and comparative-legal analysis, the implementation of international standards into Uzbekistan’s legislation, existing problems in practice, and institutional gaps will be assessed. Foreign experience will be analyzed, in particular, the Barnahus model and the activities of children’s advocacy centers and the possibilities of adapting them to the conditions of Uzbekistan will be considered. At the end of the study, proposals and recommendations are put forward aimed at harmonizing national legislation with international standards, strengthening interagency cooperation, and developing a system for the comprehensive protection of children who have suffered from violence.