Teachers as human rights defenders: strengthening HRE and safeguarding theory to prevent child sexual abuse

Kjersti Draugedalen; Audrey Osler

doi:10.7577/hrer.4776

Authors

Kjersti Draugedalen University of South-Eastern Norway, Norway https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4542-9196
Audrey Osler University of South-Eastern Norway, Norway and University of Leeds, UK https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8462-0749

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7577/hrer.4776

Abstract

Sexual abuse is a public health issue with long-term consequences for children’s lives and education. The Convention on the Rights of the Child is a key reference point in safeguarding, increasingly incorporated into domestic law. This article aims to strengthen safeguarding theory and practice by reviewing human rights education (HRE) theory and aligning it with care-based ethics. It proposes a renewed focus on HRE in teacher education that examines the teacher’s role and professional responsibilities, strengthens rights-based knowledge, and explores the transformative power of rights. By empowering teachers with skills to recognise and act on harmful sexual behaviour (HSB), they can become powerful human rights defenders, protecting children against child-on-child and adult-on-child abuse. Drawing on empirical data on teachers’ understandings of HSB, we apply theory, cautioning against an under-theorised approach that over-relies on rights knowledge or children’s ability to claim their rights in an emotionally charged arena with asymmetrical power relations.

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Author Biographies

Kjersti Draugedalen, University of South-Eastern Norway, Norway

Kjersti Draugedalen is a Public PhD candidate in Tønsberg Municipality and the University of South-Eastern Norway, Norway, where she is researching education professionals’ understandings and responses to harmful sexual behaviour. Her 2022 book Skadelig seksuell atferd i skolen – hvem kan hjelpe meg? Samarbeid mellom tjenester [Harmful sexual behaviour in school- who can help me? Cooperation between agencies], with Helle Kleive, is published by Universitetsforlaget.

Audrey Osler, University of South-Eastern Norway, Norway and University of Leeds, UK

Audrey Osler is Professor of Education at the University of South-Eastern Norway, Norway and Professor Emerita of Citizenship and Human Rights Education at the University of Leeds, UK. She is currently preparing an anthology for Routledge entitled Nordic perspectives on human rights education: Developing theory and practice for social justice with Beate Goldschmidt-Gjerløw.

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