Despite the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, children continue to be violated across the world - from child prostitution in Los Angeles and Manila to boy soldiers in Africa and the Middle East, from bonded child labour in Pakistan and India, to disappeared children in Argentina. In the west, revelations on child abuse have made it clear that the situation has, if anything, deteriorated. Contributors to this issue include Caroline Moorhead, Thomas Hammerberg and Victoria Brittain.