Beyond the Domestic Realm: Using International Human Rights Mechanisms to Hold the U.S. Accountable for Racial Injustice in the Child Welfare System
Presenters: Shereen A White, Makena Mugambi and Alexandria Ware
2:30 PM - 3:45 PMWed
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The U.S. child welfare system claims to protect children’s safety and well-being, but decades of research, data, and lived experiences reveal that the system instead has a long history of surveilling, policing, and separating families of color, particularly Black families, causing irreparable harm to children and families. This session will discuss how international human rights laws and tools can be leveraged in the fight to keep families together and address racial injustice in the U.S. child welfare system. Specifically, advocates will outline processes for holding the U.S. accountable to key United Nations treaties and declarations, including the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Durban Declaration and Progamme of Action. 1. Participants will understand the history of state-sanctioned separation of Black families from slavery to present. 2. Participants will learn how to utilize the United Nations treaty review process to advocate around human rights violations in the child welfare system. 3. Participants will receive guidance on future opportunities for international human rights advocacy to disrupt ongoing harm to Black families in the U.S. child welfare system.