The Rights of the Child. Qualitative Study. Aggregate Report October 2010

In February 2010 TNS Qual+ conducted a Qualitative Eurobarometer study on behalf of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Justice amongst young people in all 27 Member States of the EU. The study consisted of 170 focus groups and looked at the topic of children’s rights. The respondents, all aged between 15 and 17, from different socio-economical and ethnic backgrounds – including Roma, Sinti, Traveller children, and children with special needs -discussed the issues they see as most important in terms of their rights and the rights of children in general and the various obstacles children face in exercising these rights. The discussion then went on to explore the solutions they felt would help overcome these obstacles and the respondents’ explicit suggestions for what the ‘adult world’ could do to better protect and defend the rights of children.