Teens in Latin America and the Caribbean generally face a difficult path to adulthood. Poverty and unemployment, violence, political instability, and emigration are frequently the norm in their native countries. Those from poorer families must often work as well as attend school, and opportunities for higher education and good jobs are limited. Wealthier teens, on the other hand, are sheltered from harshness and enjoy private schools, vacations abroad, and access to American consumer products. Yet family is important no matter what the class, and most of these teens share a love of parties, music, and current fashions. Latin America and the Caribbean are important regions to the United States, since large numbers of Americans can trace their roots there. Teen Life in Latin America and the Caribbean allows U.S. teens to understand the unique challenges and opportunities of teens in 15 Latin American or Caribbean countries. Photos complement the text.

Despite some acknowledgement over the years of the significance of seeing children as rights holders, children’s concerns continue to run the risk of not being considered political and mainstream: they continue to be viewed as extensions of adults or simply as members of families and communities. This when the reality is that children are citizens the minute they are born, and entitled to as much attention, if not more than adults, given their age and vulnerability. Concerned with the mainstreaming of children’s interests in policy-making, this book raises such questions as: What is good governance vis-à-vis children? What are the standards and indicators? Can there be one answer for this question that is applicable to all countries? In order to arrive at a better understanding of what good governance for children means and how the realization of the political, cultural, social and civil rights of children may be achieved, the book draws on the diverse and yet comprehensive body of knowledge that has developed over the years from initiatives taken by organisations across the world who work with policy makers to make governance systems more accountable and responsive to the well-being of children as citizens in themselves, simultaneously empowering children to take part in decision-making processes that impact their lives.

This is the first book to provide a multidisciplinary and global overview of evidence-based sexuality education (SE) programs and practices. Readers are introduced to the fundamentals of creating effective programs to prepare them to design new or implement existing programs that promote healthy sexual attitudes and relationships. Noted contributors from various disciplines critically evaluate evidence –based programs from around the globe and through the lifespan. Examples and discussion questions encourage application of the material. Guidance for those who wish to design, implement, and evaluate SE programs in various social contexts is provided. Each chapter follows a consistent structure so readers can easily compare programs: Learning Goals; Introduction; Conclusion; Key Points; Discussion Questions; and Additional Resources. The editor taught human sexuality and family life education courses for years. This book reviews the key information that his students needed to become competent professionals. Highlights of the book’s coverage include: Interdisciplinary, comprehensive summary of evidence-based SE programs in one volume. Prepares readers for professional practice as a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) or sex educator by highlighting the fundamentals of developing and implementing SE programs. Exposes readers to evidence-based SE programs from various social contexts including families, schools, communities, and religious institutions. Considers the developmental context of SE across the lifespan along with programs for LGBT individuals and persons with disabilities. Critically reviews SE programs from around the world including the US, Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, and other developing countries. The book opens with an historical overview. Part I focus on general frameworks of sexuality education including UNESCO’s International Technical Guidelines. How to develop, deliver, and implement evidence based SE programs, including ethical concerns, are explored in Part II. Part III exposes readers to evidence-based programs in various social contexts--families, schools, communities, and religious institutions. Part IV considers the developmental context of SE from early childhood through adolescence and adulthood along with programs for LGBT individuals and persons with disabilities. Part V examines diverse global contexts from the US, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and other developing countries. The book concludes with future trends and directions. Ideal for graduate or advanced undergraduate courses in sex education, sexual health, human sexuality, sex or marriage counseling, intimate relationships, family life education, or home, school, and community services taught in human development and family studies, psychology, social work, health education, nursing, education, and religion, and in seminaries and family clinics, the book also serves as a resource for practitioners, counselors, researchers, clergy members, and policy makers interested in evidence based SE programs, or those seeking to become CFLEs or sexuality educators.

While young children's rights have received considerable attention and have accordingly advanced over the past two decades, the rights of adolescents have been neglected. This manifests itself in pervasive gender-based violence, widespread youth disaffection and unemployment, concerning levels of self-abuse, violence and antisocial engagement, and serious mental and physical health deficits. The cost of inaction on these issues is likely to be dramatic in terms of human suffering, lost social and economic opportunities, and threats to global peace and security. Across the range of disciplines that make up contemporary human rights, from law and social advocacy to global health, history, economics, sociology, politics, and psychology, it is time, the contributors of this volume contend, for adolescent rights to occupy a coherent place of their own. Human Rights and Adolescence presents a multifaceted inquiry into the global circumstances of adolescents, focusing on the human rights challenges and socioeconomic obstacles young adults face. Contributors use new research to advance feasible solutions and timely recommendations for a wide range of issues spanning all continents, from relevant international legal norms to neuropsychological adolescent brain development, gender discrimination in Indian education to Colombian child soldier recruitment, stigmatization of Roma youth in Europe to economic disempowerment of Middle Eastern and South African adolescents. Taken together, the research emphasizes the importance of dedicated attention to adolescence as a distinctive and critical phase of development between childhood and adulthood and outlines the task of building on the potential of adolescents while providing support for the challenges they experience. Contributors: Theresa S. Betancourt, Jacqueline Bhabha, Krishna Bose, Neera Burra, Malcolm Bush, Jocelyn DeJong, Elizabeth Gibbons, Katrina Hann, Mary Kawar, Orla Kelly, David Mark, Margareta Matache, Clea McNeely, Glaudine Mtshali, Katie Naeve, Elizabeth A. Newnham, Victor Pineda, Irene Rizzini, Elena Rozzi, Christian Salazar Volkmann, Shantha Sinha, Laurence Steinberg, Kerry Thompson, Jean Zermatten, Moses Zombo.

Gender equality and women’s empowerment can only be achieved if countries take action to tackle and eliminate discrimination in their legal frameworks, social norms and practices. The SIGI 2020 Regional Report for Latin America and the Caribbean provides new evidence-based analysis on the setbacks and progress in achieving gender equality between 2014 and 2019.

This book addresses the crisis of sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in Latin America, the region of the world with the highest percentage of Catholics. Bringing together research from across the continent, it demonstrates that abuse within the Church is indeed a global phenomenon, though abuses have taken different forms according to varying sociocultural contexts. With attention to abuses committed against children, women and vulnerable adults – by both men and women – within the settings of parishes, new religious movements and international religious organizations, it also raises questions of justice, asking how to assess the suffering of victims, how to deal with abusers and how to prevent abuses. It will therefore be of interest to scholars of religious studies, sociology, Latin American studies, criminology, theology, and religious leaders with interests in the abuses and scandals that have been revealed in the worldwide Church.