Jo Becker Fights For Children’s Rights Worldwide

Women and children sit in the back of a truck as they wait to be screened by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Islamic State militants, in the desert outside Baghouz, Syria, Friday, March 1, 2019.
Women and children sit in the back of a truck as they wait to be screened by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Islamic State militants, in the desert outside Baghouz, Syria, Friday, March 1, 2019. Felipe Dana / AP Photo
Women and children sit in the back of a truck as they wait to be screened by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Islamic State militants, in the desert outside Baghouz, Syria, Friday, March 1, 2019.
Women and children sit in the back of a truck as they wait to be screened by U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after being evacuated out of the last territory held by Islamic State militants, in the desert outside Baghouz, Syria, Friday, March 1, 2019. Felipe Dana / AP Photo

Jo Becker Fights For Children’s Rights Worldwide

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At least 14 children were killed in a blast near a school in Yemen this April. Girls from Myanmar are regularly trafficked to China as brides. In Iraq, children suspected of ISIS involvement, sometimes incorrectly, are arrested or worse. These are merely a few of the threats children around the world face. Human Rights Watch aims to bring attention to these children’s plight and advocate on their behalf so that conditions might change. The issues on which the organization focuses include child marriage, sexual abuse, lack of access to education and corporal punishment, among others. Jo Becker is the advocacy director for the Children’s Rights Division for Human Rights Watch. She joins Worldview to talk through some of the human rights abuses children face and how we can work toward a better world for all children. Becker’s 2017 book is Campaigning for Children: Strategies for Advancing Children’s Rights.