Electronic Theses and Dissertation

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ABSTRACT OUMIE NJIE 2023 (Sophia Listriani, S.H., LL.M) The issue of child protection is crucial to international, regional, and national legal frameworks. Thus, the convention on the right of the child (CRC) and the African chatter on the right and welfare of the child as well as the constitution of the Gambia particularly the children’s act of 2005 are all geared towards the commitment to protecting the right of children. As a result, the current study explores how the convention on the right of the child (CRC) is implemented into the Gambia legal system in protecting children from sexual violence and further explored the factors that are influencing child sexual abuse in the Gambia. To answer these questions, the study adopts a normative research approach where primary and secondary legal resources are obtained. Primary legal resources were gathered through the CRC convention and other regulations while secondary legal resources were obtained by reviewing relevant journals. The findings of the study reveal that the convention of the rights of the child is not fully implemented in the Gambian legal system since it has a tripartite legal system that is based on English common law, shariah law, and customary law. This resulted in undermining the effective implementation of the convention in protecting children from sexual abuse, particularly the customary and sharia law. Furthermore, the study found some factors that influence child sexual abuse in the Gambia including the culture of silence, child marriage, and the tourism industry. Therefore, the study emphasizes the domestication of the convention of rights of the child into Gambia's legal system for proper implementation. In addition, the customary and Sharia laws in the Gambia be revisited to conform to the standard of the convention of the rights of a child. In doing so, children’s rights shall be protected and the culture of silence shall be a thing of a pass since customary laws stands to be the most influential in promoting this factor. Keywords: child protection, sexual abuse, CRC convention, the Gambian legal system,