Human Rights Watch: “How Do US States Measure Up on Child Rights? Challenging US States to Meet International Child Rights Standards for Child Marriage, Corporal Punishment, Child Labor, and Juvenile Justice. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is the most ratified international human rights treaty to date. Since its adoption in 1989, 196 countries have ratified the CRC, committing to protect children from violence and exploitation, and ensure their education and healthy development. The United States is the only UN member state that has not yet ratified the Convention. Many people in the United States assume that, even without ratification of the CRC, the US upholds international child rights principles. This assessment calls that assumption into question. On a state-by-state basis, we assessed how state laws meet international standards regarding four core child rights issues: child marriage, corporal punishment, child labor, and juvenile justice. We found that most US states are overwhelmingly noncompliant with international child rights standards on these four issues…”