Steven Svoboda presented at the “Myths and Multiple Standards” conference in Frankfurt, Germany on May 8, 2015. The title of his talk is “The rights of the child versus the rights of the parent?” The event was recorded on video.
Here is the abstract of the talk:
Contrary to popular belief, it has never been the law that parents have the right to impose their will on children regardless of the child’s best interests. Instead, parents have an obligation to promote their children’s rights as well as to preserve the children’s future options, whether the particular issue at hand be genital autonomy or any other aspect of child rearing.
Numerous principles of medical ethics, legal cases, human rights agreements, and declarations by medical and political bodies confirm the primacy of protecting those who are too vulnerable to protect themselves. A new consciousness is dawning as we become more aware of our obligation to safeguard all beings, especially those who are most vulnerable, and as we further concretize this awareness.