Lies’l Goossens wins Jaap Doek Children’s Rights Thesis Award for thesis on detention collateral
The winner of this year’s Jaap Doek Children’s Rights Thesis Award wants to raise more awareness for children who have a parent in detention: ‘It’s time we stop looking the other way and actually think about the impact.’
On 11 December, the annual Jaap Doek Children’s Rights Thesis Award was presented in the Kamerlingh Onnes Building at Leiden Law School. This year, the nominees were:
- Beth Ballantine
Incorporating Children’s Rights in Scotland: Lessons and Experiences from a Devolved Nation - Diana Holleman
De littekens van pesten groeien mee. Naar een zelfstandige strafbaarstelling van pesten onder minderjarigen? Een analyse in het licht van het IVRK met inspiratie uit Frankrijk (The Scars of Bullying Never Fade: Towards the Independent Criminalisation of Bullying Among Minors – An analysis in the light of the UNCRC with inspiration from France) - Kezia Albertine
Rethinking Parental Guidance and State Duties under Article 5 in the Digital Age: A Case Study of Ryan Kaji - Job Mather
Draagmoederschap of kinderkoop? Het voorkomen van kinderhandel en kinderkoop door middel van het Wetsvoorstel Kind, draagmoederschap en afstamming (Surrogacy or Child Sale? Preventing Child Trafficking and the Sale of Children through the Draft Bill on Child, Surrogacy, and Parentage) - Vaishnavi Ramalingam
A Child Rights-Based Approach To Recognizing The Right To Positive Peer Relationships - Lies’l Goossens
Kinderrechten binnen de ouder-kindrelatie in een detentiecontext. Normatief onderzoek naar een hervorming van het beleid in België, in het licht van internationale en Europese standaarden (Children’s rights within parent-child relationships in a carceral context: Normative research on policy reform in Belgium in light of international and European standards)
During the ceremony, Mark Vogt (Defence for Children), Ton Liefaard (Professor of Children’s Rights at Leiden University), Johan Put (Professor at Leuven University), Ann Skelton (Leiden University) and Jaap Doek himself, addressed the students. Jaap Doek had the honour to announce the winner…
…and the winner was Lies’l Goossens! Her thesis, Kinderrechten binnen de ouder-kindrelatie in een detentiecontext, dealt with the rights of children who have one or more parents in detention. These children are indirectly confronted with the adverse effects of detention: stigmatisation, insecurity, mental strain and financial consequences.
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Lies’l Goossens presents her thesis. -
Mark Vogt of Defence for Children addresses the students. -
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Lies’l Goossens hears that she has won. -
Lies’l Goossens with Jaap Doek. -
Left to right.: Mark Vogt, Lies’l Goossens, Jaap Doek and Ton Liefaard -
Winner Lies’l Goossens and other nominees for the Jaap Doek Award
Goossens' thesis was selected as the winner by the jury, partly because of its specific policy recommendations for limiting the detention collateral. For example, she proposes that the children in question be registered so that they receive more attention. She also outlined the added value of a child-friendly website that provides information about contact between a parent in detention and their child.
Jaap Doek Children's Rights Thesis Award
The Jaap Doek Children’s Rights Thesis Award is named after Jaap Doek, professor emeritus in children’s rights at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and former member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. The prize is presented each year by the Department of Child Law and Health Law in collaboration with Defence for Children as recognition of the best master’s thesis in the field of children’s rights.