Oliver Twist, is a book by Charles Dickens, which tells the story of a boy’s childhood.
Oliver Twist is born in a workhouse in 1830s England. His mother dies just after Oliver’s birth. After spending the first nine years in a badly run home for young orphans, Oliver is transferred to a workhouse for adults, then he is sold to a local undertaker, Mr. Sowerberry. Oliver is mistreated and runs away in the hope of a better life in London.
Oliver is offered shelter in London by a boy, Jack Dawkins. However, the house’s benefactor, Fagin, is a career criminal who trains orphan boys to pick pockets for him. In one such theft, Oliver is caught by Mr. Brownlow, whose handkerchief was stolen. Mr Brownlow takes the feverish Oliver to his home and nurses him back to health. Mr. Brownlow is struck by Oliver’s resemblance to a portrait of a young woman that hangs in his house. After a short happy time in Mr. Brownlow’s home, Oliver is captured and returned to Fagin.
With Mr. Brownlow’s help, Oliver gets rid of Fagin and his parentage is made clear. He is a half-brother of a young wealthy man. Finally, Oliver gets his share of the family inheritance and is adopted by Mr. Brownlow.
Despite a happy ending, Dickens makes it clear throughout laws and society at the time did not support or look after children. Mr Bumble says:
“The law is a ass — a idiot. If that’s the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is, that his eye may be opened by experience”
What changes have occurred to support children’s rights in 21st century Wales?
There are several legal issues that can be raised from Oliver’s experiences. Some laws are at UK level, some are further regulated by Welsh Government.
In England, s.20 of the Children Act 1989, and in Wales, section 76 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, say that when parents are unable to look after children or where children become orphaned, the local authority (LA) has a responsibility to take care of them. Oliver lost his mother when he was born and his father is not with him. Therefore, the LA nowadays would have a responsibility to provide suitable accommodation and care for Oliver, whilst also ensuring that he attends school. All children have the right to be educated (UNCRC Article 28).
Your rights in Wales
If you are an orphan or do not have parents who can look after you, your LA should support you by:
- Providing accommodation
- Appointing somebody to look after you
- Ensuring you have access to education suitable to your needs
You can read more about your rights in Wales here
Are there places in the world where children aren’t getting their rights protected like Oliver Twist?
Children cannot be sold (UNCRC Article 35). It seems to many in the UK to be unfathomable that a child could be sold, and this is specifically outlawed in an Optional Protocol to the UNCRC, but is still a serious issue in some countries around the world, such as Mexico and Malaysia. According to Selling Children (Larry-Lambert, 05/11/2021), children are routinely sold in Mexico. Businesses frequently buy children from large families who can’t afford to feed them all and the cost per child runs from US$150 to US$250 (no tax). They bring them north and sell them. In addition, a media report (Al Jazeera, Malaysia: Babies for Sale) in 2016 stated that in Malaysia, some babies will be bought by couples desperate to start a family, while other babies are sold to traffickers and sexually exploited. This is a serious breach of children’s rights.
During Charles Dickens time the law didn’t support the rights of children. In 21st Century Wales the law supports access to basic rights for children such as protection, accommodation and education and goes a step future and embeds children’s rights in legislation through the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011.
About the Author
My name is Alisha. I am a LLM student. I hope to make more effort to provide help to children in future.
References
- ‘Malaysia: Babies for Sale’ ((Al Jazeera, 2016)
https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2016/malaysia-babies-for-sale-101-east/index.html
- Larry-Lambert, 05/11/2021)
https://www.virtualmirage.org/selling-children/
- ‘Tackling child labour: From commitment to action’ (International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour, 2012)
https://www.ilo.org/ipec/Informationresources/WCMS_181875/lang–en/index.htm