Multi-dimensional lens to article 12 of the UNCRC: a model to enhance children’s participation

ABSTRACT Children’s participation has significantly increased in the last three decades; however, participation rights, as outlined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, are often undermined by a range of dominant identities and traditional social constructions. As children’s participation processes are immersed in complex environments and multifaceted social identities, this article examines the experiences of marginalised children in Brazil and explores how identities enable or restrict their opportunities to realise their participation rights. By discussing the intersection between identities and inequalities, the paper revisits a model for child participation proposed by Laura Lundy and offers an expanded typology that includes three dimensions: ‘intersecting identities’, ‘enabling environments’ and ‘dimension factors’. In doing so, the revised model seeks to address complex forms of exclusion and marginalisation which result from a range of intersecting social categories.