The Right to Home: Domicide as a Violation of Child and Family Rights in the Context of Political Violence

Abstract

There is limited international recognition that domicide—or intentional destruction of home—is a violation of children's rights. While human rights documents allude to the crime of domicide, it is, however, never explicitly referred to as a human rights violation. Through an analysis of human rights documents and with a focus on the experiences of children, families and communities, we argue that domicide should be explicitly acknowledged as a violation of human rights so that it can effectively be prosecuted as a war crime in contexts of political violence.