The Dynamic Developmental Model of the Rights of the Child: A Feminist Approach to Rights and Sterilisation

This article attempts to determine whether the sterilization of intellectually impaired girls is acceptable under children's rights theory. International legal documents and the writings of philosophers are examined to determine the scope of children's rights. The authors of this article then propose a "dynamic developmental model" of children's rights, which acknowledges children's dependence on their parents and the state, yet recognizes that children evolve into autonomous adults. Examining case law involving the sterilization of disabled girls, the authors observe that justifications given for ordering sterilization are rarely based on children's rights. The authors analyze sterilization under the "dynamic developmental model" and conclude that sterilization cannot be justified. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Adolescents, Reproductive Rights - Reproductive Freedom, International]