Connecting Truth Commissions, Socioeconomic Harms and Child Participation

Abstract This article sits at the intersection of two debates in the field of transitional justice. The first concerns the extent to which and how children and young people should participate in transitional justice mechanisms, particularly truth commissions. The second addresses whether the field and its mechanisms should cover socioeconomic harms, alongside civil and political rights violations. The primary argument advanced is that the inclusion of the latter impacts positively on the realization of the former. That is, when transitional justice mechanisms address socioeconomic harms, they create broader opportunities for child participation, increasing the number of children who can engage and amplifying the many benefits that come from their inclusion. This article both lends support to those who advocate for addressing socioeconomic harms in transitional justice, while also contributing to discussions on how to increase and improve child participation in truth commissions.