Dangerous Boys and Endangered Girls? Children's Participation in Legal Procedure from a Gender Perspective.

Since the entry into force of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, the implementation of the child's right to be heard in judicial and administrative proceedings (Article 12 UNCRC) has been a major concern in the theory and practice of child law internationally. Little empirical research has however been undertaken on the socio-legal conditions of children's participation in legal procedure. This paper will examine these conditions from the specific perspective of the gendered order of society. It will compare juvenile justice and child protection law in order to show how different legal concepts of the child can be gendered and how this influences the procedural position of children. Drawing on examples from empirical research undertaken in Switzerland, it will explore how gendered legal concepts structure the interaction between children and authorities and how processes of children's individual gendered subjectivation are part of child law practice. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]