PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AND WOMEN IN CONDITIONS OF ARMED CONFLICT: A THEORETICAL AND LEGAL RESEARCH

Abstract

The article conducts a comprehensive theoretical and legal study of the problem of protecting children and women in the context of an armed conflict caused by the full-scale aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022. The international legal standards that determine the legal status of the specified categories of persons are analyzed, in particular the provisions of the Geneva Conventions and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as the norms of international law in the field of human rights protection. The content of key guarantees for the protection of children and women is disclosed, including the prohibition of all forms of violence, ensuring humane treatment, access to medical care, education and social protection. The Ukrainian context of the implementation of international standards is analyzed, in particular the problems of internal displacement, gender-based violence, violations of children's rights to education and security, as well as access to justice. The key challenges of implementing international legal norms into the national legal system are identified, including institutional, procedural and resource constraints. Proposals are formulated aimed at increasing the effectiveness of ensuring the rights of children and women in conditions of war and post-war reconstruction.

The purpose of the article is a comprehensive theoretical and legal study of the mechanisms for protecting the rights of children and women in conditions of armed conflict. Achieving this goal involves the analysis of international legal norms that regulate the legal status of the specified categories of persons, in particular the provisions of international humanitarian law and international law in the field of human rights.

The methodological basis of the study is a complex of general scientific, special legal and interdisciplinary approaches and methods, the application of which is due to the multidimensionality of the problem of protecting the rights of children and women in conditions of armed conflict. This approach allows to ensure the comprehensiveness, objectivity and scientific validity of the results obtained, as well as to combine theoretical analysis with practical aspects of law enforcement.

The use of a complex of complementary methods and approaches ensured the depth and systematicity of the research, which allowed not only to theoretically comprehend the issues, but also to formulate practically significant recommendations for improving the mechanisms of legal protection of children and women in armed conflict.

The study established the peculiarities of the legal status of children and women as the most vulnerable categories of the civilian population in conditions of armed conflict, and also determined the content and limits of their legal protection based on the norms of the Geneva Conventions and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The practice of the European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court was analyzed, which allowed identifying key problems of implementing international standards in the national legal system of Ukraine. The main challenges of ensuring the rights of children and women in conditions of armed aggression were identified, in particular in the field of access to security, education, medical care and justice.

It is proven that effective protection of the rights of children and women in armed conflicts requires a comprehensive combination of the norms of international humanitarian law and international human rights law with their proper implementation at the national level. The need to improve legal protection mechanisms, strengthen responsibility for violations of the rights of these categories of persons and expand international cooperation is substantiated. The implementation of the proposed approaches will contribute to increasing the effectiveness of guaranteeing the rights of children and women both during armed conflict and during the post-war recovery phase.