Abstract
Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) provides children with the right to express their views in matters that affect them, particularly those of an administrative and judicial nature. This paper examines the academic discourse in child protection research concerning how Article 12 of the CRC is implemented and how it is manifested in child protection service (CPS) casework practices. The systematic review was performed following the principles of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) statement and included 16 peer‐reviewed articles published in English in academic journals from multiple scientific databases from January 2009 to January 2019 reporting primary research with children about their experiences of participation in CPS. Despite the widespread ratification of the CRC several decades ago, the studies in the current review establish a clear and predictable pattern of an inability of children to express themselves throughout CPS proceedings. Findings consistently indicate that children in different countries felt they were not being asked, listened to or heard, in some cases even regarding harmful and unsafe situations. We argue the academic discourse must move beyond these findings and discuss how research can contribute to dealing with these obstacles and improving practices by focussing on Article 12 in particular and human rights in general throughout CPS practices.