The article shows the discrepancy between the rhetoric of political debates in which children‘s issues are negotiated and the real situations in which children find themselves. The article focuses on the issues of parental care after divorce and separation and protection from sexual violence. In both areas, children are in fact granted very little»voice«, recent studies show. There is a great need for political action if the requirements of Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its additional protocols are to be met, according to which children must have the opportunity to articulate their individual needs.