UNITED KINGDOM-SOGI-TBs-CRC
Concluding Observations on Report 6-7 (2023) (Link)
Comprehensive policy and strategy
9. Noting with appreciation the adoption of action plans on children in the overseas territories, the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Develop and adopt comprehensive policies and action plans on the implementation of the Convention, with the participation of children, in all jurisdictions of the State party, the overseas territories and the Crown dependencies, that encompass all areas covered by the Convention and include specific, time-bound and measurable goals;
(b) Ensure the effective implementation of policies and action plans on children and ensure that they are supported by sufficient human, technical and financial resources;
(c) Ensure that the action plans include a special focus on children in disadvantaged situations, including asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children, children belonging to minority groups, children with disabilities, children in care, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children, socioeconomically disadvantaged children and so-called young carers, or children with caregiver responsibilities.
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Non-discrimination
19. The Committee remains deeply concerned about persistent discrimination, such as through expressions of racism and bullying, against children in disadvantaged situations, including children belonging to minority groups and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children; insufficient progress in ensuring the protection of all children under 18 years of age against discrimination on the grounds of their age; and the overrepresentation of children of Asian and African descent and Muslim, Roma, gypsy and traveller children in the criminal justice system and the large proportion of these groups of children who are living in poverty.
20. The Committee reiterates its previous recommendations and urges the State party:
(a) To implement targeted policies and programmes to combat racist and xenophobic activities and to eliminate discrimination against children in disadvantaged situations, including children belonging to ethnic minority groups, asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children, Roma, gypsy and traveller children, children with disabilities, children in alternative care, children of incarcerated parents, children of unmarried parents, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children, socioeconomically disadvantaged children and children in the justice system;
(b) To establish clear avenues for children to seek justice in cases of discrimination and, where appropriate, ensure the access of children in disadvantaged situations to health services, education and a decent standard of living;
(c) To conduct media campaigns to change social norms and behaviours that contribute to discrimination, to raise public awareness of the prohibition of discrimination and to promote tolerance and respect for diversity;
(d) To encourage the reporting of hate crimes against children, investigate and prosecute cases of racially, ethnically and religiously motivated crime, punish perpetrators with sanctions that are commensurate with the crime and provide adequate compensation to the victims, as appropriate;
(e) To ensure that children who experience discrimination, bullying or harassment in relation to their sexual orientation or gender identity receive protection and support, including through targeted anti-bullying measures;
(f) To take legislative and other measures to ensure the protection of all children below 18 years of age from discrimination on the grounds of their age, particularly in England and Northern Ireland, address discriminatory stereotypes against children and promote a positive image of children as rights holders;
(g) To implement the recommendations of the Inclusive Britain strategy, which should help to address discrimination against children;
(h) To evaluate, with the participation of children and civil society organizations, existing measures aimed at combating discrimination against children in disadvantaged situations to assess their impact and revise the measures accordingly.
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Right to identity
25. Noting the decision taken by the State party to prevent the implementation of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, the Committee recommends that the State party recognize the right to identity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children and put in place measures to ensure that all adolescents can enjoy their freedom of expression and respect for their physical and psychological integrity, gender identity and emerging autonomy. In this context, the State party should ensure that any decisions regarding systems of gender recognition for children are taken in close consultation with transgender children and in line with children’s rights, including the right to be heard and the right to identity, in accordance with their evolving capacities, with free and informed consent and appropriate safeguards.
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Harmful practices
35. Recalling joint general recommendation No. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women/general comment No. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (2019) on harmful practices and its previous recommendations, the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Develop national strategies aimed at eliminating and preventing harmful practices affecting children, including child marriage, female genital mutilation and violence committed in the name of so-called “honour”, and ensure that they include effective measures for raising public awareness, training relevant professional groups, identifying victims and addressing data gaps and low rates of reporting and prosecution;
(b) Prohibit the promotion, facilitation and delivery of so-called conversion therapies aimed at changing the sexual orientation and gender identity of children, in line with its commitment made in 2018, with particular attention paid to the vulnerabilities of children who may be subject to such harm;
(c) Publish the results of the call for evidence, issued in 2019 by the Government Equalities Office, on the experiences and needs of people who have variations in sex characteristics;
(d) Legally prohibit non-urgent and non-essential (including feminizing or masculinizing) medical or surgical treatment of intersex children before they are of sufficient age or maturity to make their own decisions, ensure that such incidents are investigated, provide redress and psychosocial support to victims and establish a mechanism to independently monitor the implementation of the legal prohibition.
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Mental health
42. The Committee is deeply concerned about the long waiting lists for children seeking mental health services and the large number of children with mental health issues, learning disabilities and autism placed in detention and adult psychiatric wards under the Mental Health Act 1983.
43. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Urgently reform the Mental Health Act, in line with its previous commitments and the policy position set out in the 2021 white paper, and ensure that it:
(i) explicitly prohibits the detention or placement in adult psychiatric units or police stations of children with mental health issues, learning disabilities and autism; (ii) guarantees children’s right to be heard in decisions regarding their mental health care, to access therapeutic mental health services and to receive support from independent mental health advocates; and (iii) establishes standards for determining the duration of inpatient mental health care and for appropriate follow-up, with a view to preventing unnecessary and prolonged stays in inpatient mental health care;
(b) Ensure that the major conditions strategy includes infants, children’s and young people’s health and prioritizes the mental health of infants, children and young people;
(c) Develop or strengthen strategies, with sufficient resources, to ensure the availability of community-based therapeutic mental health services and programmes for children of all ages and to promote comprehensive mental health services, screening for mental health issues and early intervention services in schools;
(d) Urgently address the long waiting times for accessing mental health services and the stigma associated with such services, including in the overseas territories, and ensure that the number of qualified medical professionals, including child psychologists and psychiatrists, is sufficient to meet the mental health needs of children in a timely manner and close to where they live;
(e) Develop adequately funded mental health services tailored to the specific needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children, migrant children, children with disabilities and young carers, including through sufficient investments in specialist services;
(f) Address the overrepresentation of children belonging to minority groups, children with autism and children with learning disabilities in inpatient mental health care;
(g) Strengthen measures to address the underlying causes of poor mental health, eating disorders and other self-harming behaviours among children and invest in preventive measures.
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Education
47. Noting with concern inequalities in educational attainment and outcomes for children in disadvantaged situations, the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Strengthen measures to address inequalities in educational attainment and improve educational outcomes for children in disadvantaged situations, including children in socioeconomically disadvantaged situations, children belonging to ethnic minority groups, asylum-seeking, refugee and migrant children, children with disabilities and young carers, by, inter alia: (i) providing financial and other support for such children to finish school; (ii) developing guidelines for responding to cases of school absenteeism; and (iii) collecting and analysing data disaggregated by ethnic origin, educational outcomes and other relevant indicators on completion rates and exclusions to inform policies and programmes;
(b) Ensure inclusive education in mainstream schools for all children with disabilities, including by adapting curricula and training and assigning specialized teachers and professionals in integrated classes, so that children with disabilities and learning difficulties receive individual support and due attention;
(c) Continue efforts to ensure that all children, particularly children in the overseas territories, have access to adequate and affordable early childhood education;
(d) Monitor the use of exclusions and ensure that they are prohibited in primary schools and used in secondary schools only as a measure of last resort, prohibit the use of informal exclusions and so-called off-rolling, provide for appropriate alternatives and develop measures to address their overuse, in general, and their disproportionate use for children belonging to ethnic minority groups and children with disabilities;
(e) Ensure the right of children to appeal their exclusion and provide them with legal advice and representation, where appropriate, in line with the Committee’s previous recommendations;
(f) Increase efforts to eliminate discrimination and bullying, including cyberbullying, especially on the grounds of race, sexual orientation, gender identity or sex characteristics, disability, migration or other status in the school context and ensure that such measures: (i) are adequately resourced and developed in consultation with children; (ii) address the root causes of bullying; and (iii) encompass prevention, early detection mechanisms, the empowerment of children, mandatory training for teachers, intervention protocols, consistent and robust recording and monitoring of bullying behaviour and awareness-raising on the harmful effects of bullying;
(g) Develop guidance, with the participation of civil society organizations and children, for the inclusion of trans and gender-questioning children in schools in all constituent countries and ensure that such guidance fully respects their rights, including their rights to identity and to privacy;
(h) Take steps to decolonize and remove discriminatory language from textbooks and curricula and develop educative materials that foster respect for and the appreciation of racial, cultural, gender and other diversities;
(i) Ensure the teaching of children’s rights and the principles of the Convention within the mandatory school curricula in all educational settings and in the training of teachers and education professionals;
(j) Explicitly prohibit the use of restraint and seclusion in educational settings and adopt a child rights-based approach to addressing violence or other disturbances in schools, including by prohibiting the presence of police in schools and providing regular training for teachers on relevant guidance for addressing such disturbances in a child-sensitive manner;
(k) End practices, including academic selection and testing measures, that contribute to the high levels of stress felt by students owing to academic pressure and ensure that children benefit from a creative learning environment.
Concluding Observations on Report 5 (2016) (Link)
Non-discrimination
21. The Committee is concerned that:
(a) A number of provisions under the Equality Act (2010) exempt children from the protection against age discrimination and, in Northern Ireland, the proposed legislation on age discrimination excludes children under 16 years of age;
(b) Counter-terrorism measures do not enjoy public confidence owing to the lack of transparency and are widely perceived to have a discriminatory or stigmatizing effect on children, in particular Muslim children;
(c) Many children in certain groups, including Roma, gypsy and traveller children, children of other ethnic minorities, children with disabilities, children in care, migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee children and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children, continue to experience discrimination and social stigmatization, including through the media.
22. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Consider the possibility of expanding legislation to provide protection of all children under 18 years of age against discrimination on the grounds of their age;
(b) Strengthen the oversight mechanism, including regular independent reviews, to assess and ensure that the implementation of the counter-terrorism and counter-extremism measures, including the Prevent Strategy (2011), will not have a discriminatory or stigmatizing impact on any group of children;
(c) Strengthen its awareness-raising and other preventive activities against discrimination and stigmatization and, if necessary, take temporary special measures for the benefit of children in vulnerable situations.
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Freedom of the child from all forms of violence
48. The Committee is concerned that:
(a) Bullying, including cyberbullying, remains a serious and widespread problem, particularly against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children, children with disabilities and children belonging to minority groups, including Roma, gypsy and traveller children;
(b) In Northern Ireland, children face violence, including shootings, carried out by non-State actors involved in paramilitary-style attacks, and recruitment by such non- State actors.
49. The Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Intensify its efforts to tackle bullying and violence in schools, including by teaching human rights, building the capacities of students and staff members to respect diversity at school, improving students’ conflict-resolution skills, monitoring regularly the incidences of bullying at school and involving children in the initiatives and monitoring aimed at eliminating bullying;
(b) In the light of the recommendations resulting from the day of general discussion on digital media and children’s rights, train children, teachers and families on the safe use of information and communication technologies, raise awareness among children on the severe effects that online bullying can have on their peers and increase the involvement of social media outlets in the efforts to combat cyberbullying;
(c) Take immediate and effective measures to protect children from violence by non-State actors involved in paramilitary-style attacks and from recruitment by such actors into violent activities, including through measures relating to transitional and criminal justice.
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Health and health services
58. The Committee is concerned at the inequality in access to health services and health outcome, negatively affecting Roma, gypsy and traveller children, children belonging to other ethnic minorities, migrant children, children living in poverty and in deprived areas, children in care and in custody, children living with HIV/AIDS and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children.
59. With reference to its general comment No. 15 (2013) on the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, the Committee recommends that the State party, the governments of the devolved administrations, overseas territories and Crown dependencies develop comprehensive and multisectoral strategies on child health:
(a) With the allocation to the maximum extent of available resources and a robust monitoring mechanism;
(b) With a strong focus on eliminating inequalities in health outcome and in access to health services;
(c) Addressing underlying social determinants of health.
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Adolescent health
64. The Committee notes with appreciation the steady decrease in teenage pregnancies in the State party during the period under review. However, the Committee is concerned that:
(a) The rate of teenage pregnancies is still higher than the average for the European Union, and higher in more deprived areas;
(b) Relationships and sexuality education is not mandatory in all schools, its contents and quality varies depending on the school, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children do not have access to accurate information on their sexuality;
(c) In Northern Ireland, abortion is illegal in all cases, except where continuance of the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother, and is sanctioned with life imprisonment.
65. With reference to its general comments No. 4 (2003) on adolescent health and development in the context of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and No. 15 (2013), the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Develop and adopt a comprehensive sexual and reproductive health policy for adolescents, with particular attention to reducing inequalities and with participation of adolescents;
(b) Ensure that meaningful sexual and reproductive health education is part of the mandatory school curriculum for all schools, including academies, special schools and youth detention centres, in all areas of the State party. Such education should provide age-appropriate information on: confidential sexual and reproductive health-care services; contraceptives; the prevention of sexual abuse or exploitation, including sexual bullying; the support available in cases of such abuse and exploitation; and sexuality, including that of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children;
(c) Decriminalize abortion in Northern Ireland in all circumstances and review its legislation with a view to ensuring girls’ access to safe abortion and post- abortion care services. The views of the child should always be heard and respected in abortion decisions.
Concluding Observations on Report 3-4 (2008) (Link)
Non-discrimination
24. The Committee welcomes the State party’s plans to consolidate and strengthen equality legislation, with clear opportunities to mainstream children’s right to non- discrimination into the United Kingdom anti-discrimination law (the forthcoming Equality Bill). The Committee also welcomes the adoption of action plans and the monitoring and information collection work carried out on the issue of discrimination. However, the Committee is concerned that in practice certain groups of children, such as: Roma and Irish Travellers’ children; migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee children; lesbian, bisexual, gay, and transgender children (LBGT) and children belonging to minority groups continue to experience discrimination and social stigmatization. The Committee is also concerned at the general climate of intolerance and negative public attitudes towards children, especially adolescents, which appears to exist in the State party, including in the media, and may be often the underlying cause of further infringements of their rights.
25. The Committee recommends that the State party ensure full protection against discrimination on any grounds, including by:
(a) Taking urgent measures to address the intolerance and inappropriate characterization of children, especially adolescents, within the society, including in the media;
(b) Strengthening its awareness-raising and other preventive activities against discrimination and, if necessary, taking affirmative actions for the benefit of vulnerable groups of children, such as Roma and Irish Travellers’ children; migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee children; lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender children (LBGT); and of children belonging to minority groups;
(c) Taking all necessary measures to ensure that cases of discrimination against children in all sectors of society are addressed effectively, including with disciplinary, administrative or – if necessary – penal sanctions.
Concluding Observations on Report 2 (2002) (Link)
Adolescent health
43. While noting the efforts undertaken by the State party to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies, the Committee remains concerned at the high rate of teenage pregnancies in the State party. The Committee welcomes the one-to-one mentoring system and the multidisciplinary approach to detecting and managing mental health problems and notes that the mental health of children has been introduced in the National Priorities Guidance 1999/2002, but remains concerned that many children suffer from mental health problems and that the rate of suicide among young people is still high. The Committee is concerned that homosexual and transsexual young people do not have access to the appropriate information, support and necessary protection to enable them to live their sexual orientation. The Committee is furthermore concerned at the rising incidence of sexually transmitted diseases among young persons.
44. In line with its previous recommendations (ibid., para. 30), the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Take further necessary measures to reduce the rate of teenage pregnancies through, inter alia, making health education, including sex education, part of the school curricula, making contraception available to all children, and improving access to confidential and adolescent-sensitive advice and information and other appropriate support (as recommended by the independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy);
(b) Review its policies for young mothers under the age of 16 years with regard to allowance entitlements and parenting courses;
(c) Take all necessary measures to strengthen its mental health and counselling services, ensuring that they are accessible and sensitive to adolescents, and undertake studies on the causes and backgrounds of suicides;
(d) Provide adequate information and support to homosexual and transsexual young people, and encourages the State party, further to the statement of intent made by its delegation to repeal section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988, where it applies.
Concluding Observations on Report 1 (1995) (Link)
[no mention]
This content was last updated in December 2023