Rhian Croke, Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law and member of the Observatory on the Human Rights of Children, Swansea University.
I have been a passionate advocate for children’s rights for over 15 years and in particular have been involved with the promotion of children’s rights in the nation of Wales.[1] On the day that Wales has its Welsh Parliament elections; it must be celebrated that young people from the age of 16 years have been given the right to vote for elected members. This is indicative of a nation that believes that their younger people are citizens in the ‘here’ and ‘now’ and not just citizens in the making. This valuing of children’s right to be heard in all decisions that affect them, has a longer history.[2] Since devolution in 1999, Wales has accelerated an agenda that is supportive of children’s rights. In a powerful early statement, Welsh Government stated:
‘Children and young people should be seen as young citizens, with rights and opinions to be taken into account now.’[3]
Wales was the first country in the UK to legislate for children’s rights through the establishment of the Children’s Commissioner for Wales[4], and in 2004, underpinned their national policy with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).[5] Wales was also quick to legislate for children’s right to be heard, and to establish mechanisms to support children’s participation.[6]
Leading a civil society mechanism, the Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group, I had the privilege (2004 to 2015) to enable and encourage NGOs and academic institutions to use the power of the international human rights framework and its reporting process, to advocate for policy and law reform.[7] This motivated duty bearers to take their CRC reporting commitments seriously, from Children’s Commissioner, to Welsh Government and children themselves, via the national Children and Young People’s Assembly for Wales.[8] The evidence that it generated helped to demonstrate where children’s rights deficits were happening and to advocate for the landmark legislation, the Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011.[9] This legislation placed a legal obligation on all Welsh Government Ministers to give due regard to the CRC in all their functions. It also secured, as part of its ‘Children’s Scheme’ a commitment to conduct children’s rights impact assessments (CRIA) on all proposed policy and legislation.[10]
However, with all these policy and legislative developments, it has been recognised through consistent evidence gathering, that there is a policy to implementation gap, with children’s rights not always being translated into practice.[11] Wales has also sometimes meandered or faltered in its journey to reach its children’s rights milestones. The journey towards removing the defence of ‘reasonable chastisement’ for a nation which values children’s rights was a long and arduous one, which thankfully, was achieved after years of active campaigning.[12] Even with Welsh Government compelled to give due regard to Article 12 of the CRC under the ‘Rights Measure’, it was with much dismay in 2014, that children were not consulted on the decision to cease funding the national Children and Young People’s Assembly for Wales. However, in response, young people using the CRC took action to successfully campaign for the establishment of a Welsh Youth Parliament.[13] Children were also not consulted on the decision to leave the European Union in 2016, a decision that whatever side of the Brexit divide you sit on, will arguably have the greatest impact on the generation that were not consulted.[14]
Furthermore, when examining the harsh reality of some children’s lives there is some distance to be travelled. Children’s mental health, children’s health inequalities and child poverty have remained stubborn and persistent challenges.[15] Research has demonstrated that allocation of funding to children’s services has not always been prioritised, with adult services taking priority.[16] These challenges have been laid bare by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and like other nations, Wales has sometimes struggled to balance protecting older populations’ rights with promoting what is in the best interests of children.
Emergency Coronavirus legislation has imposed limits on what children have been able to do beyond their own home and locality. Children for many months were unable to socialise and play with their friends. In April 2020, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child issued a clear statement warning of the ‘grave physical, emotional, and psychological effect of the pandemic on children and called for all countries to protect their rights.’[17] In evidence submissions to the Welsh Parliament, Children and Young People and Education Committee Covid 19 Inquiry, paediatricians and psychiatrists expressed their concerns regarding the ‘collateral damage’ of the pandemic on children.[18] Experience of lockdown, anxiety, loneliness, children facing bereavement or living in fear of their parents and grandparents succumbing to the virus, has exacerbated many children and young people’s mental health issues.[19]
Over the past year, children’s right to a quality education has been affected, with face to face education being limited to the vast majority of pupils. The Educational Attainment Gap, already an issue of concern has widened considerably in England and this is likely to be the case in Wales.[20] Children from lower socio-economic backgrounds struggled to access education online due to digital education inequalities and according to the Children’s Commissioner for Wales Survey, 54% of 12-18 year olds were worried about falling behind.[21]
NSPCC reported on the unprecedented demand across the UK for their Child Line Service with child abuse calls to NSPCC rising by 20%.[22] Reports of physical abuse of children rose by 53% during the first lockdown.[23] Furthermore between March and June 2020, the police recorded 259, 324 domestic abuse related offences in England and Wales.[24] The challenges of no longer having school as a safe sanctuary from potential abuses in the home kept some children in vulnerable contexts, with limited scope for accessing help.
Children reported a break from bullying in school, according to the Children’s Commissioner for Wales, ‘Coronavirus and Me Survey’.[25] However children’s increased time online and pressure to do 24-hour social networking is likely to have resulted in greater online bullying.[26] Alarmingly many adults time online also increased, with the Internet Watch Foundation reporting that 8.8 million people in the UK accessed images of child sexual abuse in just one month.[27]
29% of children were already living in relative poverty in Wales, pre the pandemic.[28] This is considered to have been exacerbated with many parents losing their jobs, with job markets shrinking and high numbers of parents forced to go on universal credit. Many children have faced food insecurity and child health inequalities affected by children’s experience of poverty will undoubtedly increase.[29]
The child population may not have experienced high rates of mortality during the pandemic,[30] but they have certainly shouldered the burden of devastating impacts on many of their human rights.
Having a children’s rights legislative framework and structures for children in Wales, including a strong parliamentary committee for children, has ensured consistent pressure on Welsh Government to give due regard to the rights of the child and conduct CRIA’s on emergency legislation (albeit later in the pandemic). Furthermore the Welsh Parliament Children and Young People and Education Committee, consistently collected evidence from experts on the impact of the pandemic on children’s lives and used this evidence in scrutiny of Government.[31] The Children’s Commissioner for Wales ensured that children across Wales were also consulted and had access to information on the pandemic through their information hub.[32] Lessons were learned and mitigation measures were implemented. However duty bearers are still learning about the toll of the pandemic on children and how things could be done better in future pandemics or indeed other crises.
Undoubtedly, it is a significant moment in the history of Welsh devolution, that today 16 and 17 year olds have been given the right to vote. However, children will continue to remain the poorest and most exploited social group if they are not given equal opportunity to participate in decisions that impact on them.[33] All children no matter their age have experienced the affects of the pandemic and should be given opportunities to be heard in any Covid 19 Inquiries and be proactively engaged in the recovery response. Since devolution, consecutive Welsh Parliaments have seized the opportunity to entrench a CRC blue print for a better society for its children. Now is the time to reinvigorate this commitment and ensure Wales does not falter in its journey to ensure children are recognised as citizens with rights and opinions to be taken into account now.
Reference List
[1] Wales is one of the devolved nations of the United Kingdom and became a devolved administration in 1999 after a public referendum. [2] In this blog, ‘children’ refers to both children and young people 0-17 years as defined by the CRC. [3] Welsh Government, Rights to action (Welsh Government 2004) p.4. [4]Children’s Commissioner for Wales Regulations. 2001. SI 2001/2787 (W.237) Regulation 22. Available online: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2001/2787/contents/made (accessed on 2 March 2021). [5]National Assembly for Wales. 2004. Record of Proceedings. January 14. Available online: https://business.senedd.wales/Data/Plenary%20-%20Second%20Assembly/20040114/Agenda/The%20Record%20(14-01-2004).pdf (accessed on 2 March 2021). [6] Croke R, Dale H, Dunhill A, Roberts A, Unnithan M, William J, ‘Integrating Sustainable Development and Children’s Rights: A Case Study on Wales’. Soc. Sci. 2021, 10, 100. Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/3/100/htm (accessed April 6 2021). [7] Aspinwall T and Croke R, ‘Policy Advocacy Campaigns: the collective voices of children’s NGOs in Wales,’ In Williams J (eds) The UNCRC in Wales (University of Wales Press 2013). [8] Croke R and Crowley A, ‘Human Rights and Child Poverty in the UK’ in Invernizzi A and Williams J (eds), The Human Rights of Children: From Visions to Implementation (Farnham: Ashgate 2011). [9] Rights of Children and Young Persons (Wales) Measure 2011, Sections 3 and 4. Available online: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/mwa/2011/2 (accessed on 2 March 2021). [10] Welsh Government, Children’s Rights Scheme (Welsh Government 2014). Available online: https://senedd.wales/Laid%20Documents/GEN-LD9732%20-%20Children's%20Rights%20Scheme%202014-22042014-255569/gen-ld9732-e-English.pdf (accessed February 10 2021). [11]Croke R, and Crowley A, eds. Stop, Look, Listen: The Road to Realising Children’s Rights in Wales (Cardiff: Save the Children UK 2007) [Google Scholar]; Croke R, and Williams J, eds. Wales UNCRC Monitoring Group Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. (Swansea: Swansea University 2015). [Google Scholar] [12] BBC News Online, ‘Wales to bring in smacking ban after assembly vote’, Available online: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-51266509 (accessed May 1 20201). [13] Croke, Rhian, and Jane Williams, Our rights, Our Parliament: The story of the Campaign for the Children and Young People’s Assembly for Wales (Children’s Legal Centre Wales 2018) Available online: https://childrenslegalcentre.wales/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/OROP-English.pdf (accessed on 10 December 2020). [14] Croke R, Dale H, Dunhill A, Roberts A, Unnithan M, William J, ‘Integrating Sustainable Development and Children’s Rights: A Case Study on Wales’. Soc. Sci. 2021, 10, 100. Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/3/100/htm (accessed April 6 2021). [15] Royal College of Paediatrics and State of Child Health Report 2020. Available online: https://stateofchildhealth.rcpch.ac.uk/evidence/nations/wales/ (accessed March 5 2020). [16] Croke R (forthcoming), A case study investigation into a children’s rights approach to health services. Hillary Rodham Clinton School of Law. Swansea University; For global evidence on the tilting of funding towards adults: Denburg AE, Giacomini M, Ungar WJ, Abelson J, ‘The Moral Foundations of Child Health and Social Policies: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis’. Children. 2021; 8(1):43. [17] OHCHR Human Rights Treaty Branch, Compilation of Statements by Human Rights Treaty Bodies in the context of Covid 19, (Geneva, September 2020) Available online: https://bangkok.ohchr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/External-TB-statements-COVID-19-28apr201.pdf (accessed April 6 2021). [18] Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Evidence Submission to the Welsh Parliament Children and Young People and Education Committee Covid 19 Inquiry, Available online: https://business.senedd.wales/documents/s101756/CYPE5-15-20%20-%20Paper%201%20-%20Royal%20College%20of%20Paediatrics%20and%20Child%20Health.pdf (accessed May 1 2021). [19] Welsh Parliament, Children and Young People Education Committee Covid 19 Inquiry 2020, Available online: https://business.senedd.wales/mgIssueHistoryHome.aspx?IId=28348 (accessed May 1st 2021). [20] Educational Policy Institute Annual Report 2020. Available online: https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/education-in-england-annual-report-2020/ (accessed April 26 2021) The Institute reports that home learning hours were lowest in Wales, Scotland, the Midlands and Northern England and strong evidence that disadvantaged children received the least amount of home learning. [21] Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Coronavirus and Me Survey June 2020. Available online: https://www.childcomwales.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/FINAL_formattedCVRep_EN.pdf (accessed May 1st 2021). [22] NSPCC. Available online: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/about-us/news-opinion/2020/report-risk-abuse-teenagers-children/ (accessed April 26 2021). [23] Ibid. [24] Office for National Statistics 2020. Available online: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/domesticabuseinenglandandwalesoverview/november2020 (accessed April 26 2021) [25] Children’s Commissioner for Wales June 2020, ‘Coronavirus and Me Survey’. Available online: https://www.childcomwales.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/FINAL_formattedCVRep_EN.pdf (accessed May 10 2021). [26] In the year up to March 2020, 1in 5 children in England and Wales reported online bullying, it is anticipated that this will have increased due to children’s increased time online. ONS Statistics 2020. Available online: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/bulletins/onlinebullyinginenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2020#main-points (accessed May 1st 2021). [27] Guardian news online, ‘Watchdog reveals 8.8 million attempts to access online child abuse in April,’ https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/may/20/watchdog-reveals-88m-attempts-to-access-online-child-abuse-in-april (accessed May 1 2021). [28] Welsh Government, Child Poverty Progress report (Welsh Government 2019). https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2020-01/child-poverty-strategy-2019-progress-report.pdf (accessed April 20 2021). [29] UK Children’s Commissioner’s Report., Children’s rights in the UK in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Annex to Report of the UK Children’s Commissioners to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child: Examination of the Combined Sixth and Seventh Periodic Reports of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, December 2020. Available online: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/cco-uncrc-report-covid-annex.pdf.pdf accessed January 2021. [30] Deaths of children to Covid-19 remain rare 0·17 per 100 000 population. Available online: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(21)00066-3/fulltext (accessed April 6 2021). [31] Welsh Parliament, Children and Young People and Education Committee, The impact of Covid 19 on children and young people. March 2021. Available online: https://senedd.wales/media/ixzpwqr5/cr-ld14286-e.pdf (accessed April 10 2021). [32] Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Coronavirus Information Hub for Children, https://www.childcomwales.org.uk/coronavirus-our-work/coronavirus/ (accessed April 10 2021). [33] Wall J, ‘Democratising democracy: the road from women to children’s suffrage’, International Journal Human Rights: Vol 18 (2014) Issue 6.
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