Education / Professionalization|Pedagogical support
For more than 30 years, the Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA) has guaranteed protection and rights for those under 18 years old.
Officially attested to its existence in 1990, the Statute of Children and Adolescents (ECA) guarantees full protection to all people between zero and eighteen years of age. Assuring, in this way, access to “all opportunities and facilities, with the purpose of providing them with physical, mental, moral, spiritual and social development, in conditions of freedom and dignity”.
The ECA was the gateway to the creation of various public policies in various areas. This has caused the reality of children and adolescents to change in the last three decades, since the enactment of the norm.
This is because the Statute of Children and Adolescents allowed the understanding of children and adolescents as beings with rights. That is, that minors under 18 deserved protection and laws that guarantee comprehensive care.
On July 13th, the ECA day was celebrated. Therefore, the Instituto Ramacrisna promotes a reflection on the norm.
Before the creation of the ECA, the laws did not protect children and adolescents. That is, those under 18 were not seen as a person, neither culturally nor legally.
The law in force before the creation of the Statute was the Minors’ Code. Created in the military dictatorship, the code led to the treatment of children and adolescents with its ideology of surveillance, with policies of inspection and, often, torture.
The so-called “abandoned minors”, who committed crimes, used drugs or were involved in trafficking in vulnerable areas, were subject to these policies of repression. In addition, they could be removed from their families by decisions of the family judges, who were the highest authority on the matter.
The Children and Adolescents Statute changed this perspective by guaranteeing family coexistence, as a priority for the lives of children and adolescents. In other words, the ECA considers that, as beings in development, a healthy family structure and harmonious coexistence are essential.
Despite numerous advances, there is still a lot of work to be done to fully comply with the Statute of Children and Adolescents. In commemorative material, the Federal Public Ministry heard prosecutors who work in the area of children and youth about the main challenges for the ECA.
Ivonei Sfoggia, Attorney General, who for ten years was a promoter in the area of childhood and youth, pointed out gaps in the rights to health and education. “Changing this situation is not something that requires new laws, it is only necessary that we manage to enforce the ECA in its entirety, as well as other legal provisions that guarantee the rights of our childhood and youth”, she evaluated..
“Only when all our children and adolescents, residing in any part of the country and who have the most different living conditions, can effectively exercise the rights listed by the ECA, will we be able to say that, in Brazil, children and adolescents are an absolute priority”, she concluded.
On the other hand, Olympio de Sá Sotto Maior Neto, who is a reference prosecutor on the subject, having even participated in the drafting of the Statute, assesses that there is a difficulty for entities to prioritize childhood and adolescence.
“Overcoming this challenge requires that everyone recognizes and submits to the constitutional principle that determines absolute priority for the area of childhood and youth, which consists in the preferential formulation of the respective policies and the privileged destination of resources”, he says.
The Third Sector plays a significant role in the history of ECA. To begin with, social actors pressured the government to create legislation that would protect children and adolescents.
After being sanctioned, the ECA continues to have a close relationship with the Third Sector. This is because social organizations have an important role in the implementation of the Statute, acting where the public power does not reach.
In addition, the Third Sector demands the implementation of public policies and services that can be done with governments. Not to mention the power of partnerships with the private sector, which can support the improvement of the lives of millions of children and adolescents in our country..
Especially in regions of greater social vulnerability, the Third Sector becomes a protagonist in guaranteeing the rights of those under 18 years of age. This is the case of Instituto Ramacrisna, which guarantees access to education, food, leisure and culture for children and adolescents. In addition to fighting child labor and investing in the professionalization of young adults, transforming the lives of thousands of families.
Be yourself also an instrument of transformation. Learn how to donate.
