Legal Research Intern At ECPAT International

Position: Legal Research Intern

Reports to: Research and Child Rights Monitoring Manager

Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Duration: Six Months

Starting date: June 2024

OVERALL PURPOSE OF THE INTERNSHIP

The ECPAT International internship programme is designed to provide an opportunity to eligible candidates to contribute to and learn about child protection issues, particularly child’s rights to live free of sexual exploitation of children. Eligible candidates have the opportunity to be part of a professional team in an international working environment and through practical and hands-on exposure and involvement to learn about and contribute to ECPAT’s child protection work. Interns are eligible to participate in the ECPAT International Secretariat activities. Interns are expected to carry out the duties assigned to them under the responsibility of the designated supervisor.

PRIMARY TASKS

• Research, collect and analyse information on national laws, legal procedures, policies, and implementation practices related to sexual exploitation of children in ECPAT target countries. This includes research into the status of sexual exploitation of children in the country, general measures of implementation, prohibitions, protection, and prevention measures related to sexual exploitation of children in the context of prostitution, in the online/digital environments, and in the context of travel and tourism, as well as trafficking of children for sexual purposes and child, early and forced marriage.
• Draft legal sections of ECPAT publications (for example ECPAT Country Overviews or others) and reports for the submission with global or regional human rights mechanisms, such as: the Human Rights Council for the Universal Periodical Review; the Committee on the Rights of the Child for their review of the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and/or the Optional Protocol on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography or; the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child for their review on child rights.
• All reports/publications are written in close collaboration with other members of the ECPAT Research Team and the ECPAT members and partners in the country under review.
• Be in regular communication with the ECPAT Member organizations and/or partners in the target countries to retrieve and confirm information.
• As requested, review other ECPAT publications and materials to strengthen texts related to legal and research frameworks.
• Assist ECPAT International proofreading of publications and other documents.
• Assist in the preparation of workshops, trainings and meetings on legal issues or human rights reporting.
• On an informal and as-needed basis, assist with other ECPAT regional and thematic programmatic tasks or any other tasks as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

Essential

• Advanced degree in Law with a focus in international law and/or human rights or equivalent.
• Strong research and writing skills.
• Ability to synthesise large amounts of information into concise formats.
• Knowledge of international legal standards related to child’s rights.
• Fluency in English and excellent English writing skills.

Desirable

• Acceptable level of knowledge of legal standards on sexual exploitation of children.
• Fluency in other languages.
• Previous exposure to child’s rights or other social issues.
• Previous engagement with local and grassroots civil society organisations and understanding of their operating context.
• Experience in working with human rights and social development issues specifically as they relate to the rights of children.

INTERNSHIP CONDITIONS

A modest stipend of 15,000 Bath/month (around $420 USD) will be made available to the intern who is not sponsored by other organisations or institutions. ECPAT will also provide a travel lump sum to support costs of relocation/visa. The amount of the lump sum will be assessed based on the country of origin of the selected applicant and capped at $1000. All other costs related to the internship, i.e., travel, passport, visa and living costs in Bangkok, are to be borne by the intern or their sponsoring institution or organisation.

OUR COMMITMENTS

As ECPAT’s International Secretariat we recognise that our strength lies in the diversity of the people who make up our global network, staff, volunteers and consultants. We are committed to being an inclusive workplace where people of all backgrounds and cultures can strive and be themselves. This means we will challenge ourselves to do better and to continue learning, to create and maintain a working environment steeped in respect, tolerance, safety, and where all parties are valued equally. We therefore welcome applications from any under-represented group.

As an organisation, we are committed to taking concrete steps to develop an evolving safeguarding culture and to ensure robust safeguarding measures are in place to protect the children, communities and staff we and our partners are in contact with through our work. The successful candidate will be required to sign our 2 codes of conduct, provide 2 references and a criminal record check from their country of citizenship.