The state of children’s rights in England 2009
A message from CRAE’s national co-ordinator
This year is the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). 193 countries have so far ratified (agreed to follow) the UNCRC. The UNCRC was adopted by the UN in 1989, giving over 40 very important human rights to children and young people all over the world. Every year, the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) reports on how fully the Government is putting the UNCRC into practice. The report is called The state of children’s rights. It shows where the Government is doing well for children and young people’s rights, where it must do more, and where it is ignoring important rights.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international human rights treaty for all children and young people aged 17 and under. It gives children and young people a full set of rights, including the right to express their own views and have them taken seriously.
Over the last 20 years, the UNCRC has made a big difference to the lives of children and young people in England. There are more laws in place that protect and promote children’s rights. Children and young people have more say in decisions affecting their lives. We now have a Children’s Minister, a Children’s Commissioner, a Children’s Rights Director and a national plan for children. All of these things aim to help children and young people become the best person they can be. But in England we still do not have a society that allows all children and young people to enjoy their rights. This means that children and young people in most need of support – for example, children with disabilities, children in trouble with the law, and young refugees and asylum seekers – are often those whose rights are least respected. CRAE campaigns to make sure children’s rights are put into practice for all children and young people living in England – we hope you will join us.
Dr. Mike Lindsay, national co-ordinator
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Contents Introduction
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About this report
5
General measures of implementation
6-7
General principles
8-9 10 - 11
Civil rights and freedoms
12 - 13
Family and alternative care Basic health and welfare
14 - 15
Education, leisure and culture
16 - 17
Special protection measures
18 - 19
Children in armed conflict (OPAC)
20 - 21
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 22 - 24 OPAC (again!)
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A
f o e t a t s e ? What is th d n a l g n E n i s t h g i r s ’ from n e childr This report is a summary for children and young people of CRAE’s State of children’s rights in England 2009. It looks at action that has been taken on children’s rights between October 2008 and October 2009. CRAE’s State of children’s rights in England report measures how well the Government respects and protects children’s rights. It is based on recommendations made to the Government by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child. The last recommendations were made in October 2008, and they set out what the Government must do to better protect children’s human rights.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is a group of 18 international children’s rights experts that checks how well governments protect and respect children’s human rights.
To write this report, CRAE looks at all the things the Government has done to take action on the UN’s recommendations. This includes looking at new laws and policies that have been made, research that has been done, and decisions that have been made in court cases. Using this information, we show how well the Government is putting the UNCRC into practice.
England
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This report This report is split into 8 sections. These sections follow the headings the UN Committee uses to talk about the different rights in the UNCRC. They are:
General measures of implementation – rights that cover what things should be in place to make sure all children and young people can enjoy their rights.
General principles – these 4 rights are not only rights for children and young people, but the 4 principles that all the other rights in the UNCRC are based on (find out more about these rights on page 6).
Civil rights and freedoms – rights that give children and young people respect, freedom and an identity.
Family and alternative care – the rights that children and young people have in their family life, or when they are in care.
Basic health and welfare – these rights are about making sure all children and young people are healthy and safe, have the same chances in life, and a good standard of living.
Education, leisure and cultural activities – these rights cover education, play, leisure and culture. They aim to help children and young people become the best person they can be.
Special protection measures – these are important rights that give extra protection to vulnerable children and young people.
This report also has a section which looks at how well the rights of children and young people in the Armed Forces, or affected by war, are protected and respected. This is called the Optional Protocol on Involving Children in Armed Conflict (OPAC). Optional Protocols are new rules that have been added to a Convention, which governments can decide if they want to agree to. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has 2 Optional Protocols - one on the involvement of children in armed conflict and one on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The Optional Protocol on Involving Children in Armed Conflict protects the rights of children in the Armed Forces or affected by war.
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General measures of implementation
This chapter looks at Articles 4, 42 and 44 of the UNCRC. These articles set out the things the Government must have in place to put the UNCRC into practice for all children. They say the Government must do all it can to protect children’s rights and make sure everyone knows about the UNCRC. This year, the Government has started to think about what it needs to have in place to be able to put children’s rights into practice fully.
The Government has mentioned children’s rights in some important documents affecting children and young people
Children’s rights are included in the Government’s Bill of Rights and Responsibilities Green Paper. A Green Paper is a document in which the Government sets out its plans on a particular issue. The Government uses a Green Paper to find out what people think about its plans. The ideas in a Green Paper can still be changed. The Bill of Rights and Responsibilities Green Paper explains the Government’s ideas about what everyone’s rights and responsibilities should be.
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The UK Government meets 4 times a year with the governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to try to make sure they are working together on children’s rights
The Government is writing a UK plan to show how it will take action on some of the UN Committee’s recommendations
The Government held a conference to talk to children and young people about children’s rights.
But the Government has not yet taken all the steps needed to make sure children’s rights are taken into account:
The UK children’s rights plan will only cover 4 topics – negative images of young people in the media, child poverty, knowing about the UNCRC, and taking part in decision-making. It will not deal with most of what the UN Committee was worried about
The Government has said it will not make the UNCRC part of UK law – which means that some children’s rights are ignored
The Government does not do children’s rights impact assessments on law and policy affecting children and young people – an exercise which works out what effect a particular law or policy might have on children’s rights
No changes have been made to make the Children’s Commissioner for England more independent. The Children’s Commissioner for England does not have the same powers as other Commissioners in the UK to protect children’s human rights The role of the Children's Commissioner for England was created by the Children Act 2004. The Children’s Commissioner must make sure that the views of children and young people are asked for, listened to and acted on.
The Government does not talk enough to NGOs about children’s rights issues and how to put the UN Committee’s recommendations into practice
The Government has not done enough to make sure that people know about the UNCRC; it has not provided training on the UNCRC for all adults who make decisions that affect children, including judges, immigration staff, social workers, teachers and the police.
An NGO is a non-governmental organisation – a charity or other group that is not part of the Government.
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l a r e n e G
principles
This chapter looks at Articles 2, 3, 6 and 12. All the other rights in the UNCRC are based on these principles. They are:
All the rights in the UNCRC belong to all children – no one can be discriminated against (Article 2) Children’s best interests should always be a top priority (Article 3) Every child has the right to life, and to be the best person they can be (Article 6) Every child has the right to express his or her views, and their views must be taken seriously (Article 12)
The Government has made some progress on making sure the general principles of the UNCRC are a reality for children and young people:
The Department for Children, Schools and Families says thinking about children’s well-being is really important when making policies and decisions that affect children and young people
The new Equality Bill aims to make laws about discrimination easier to understand – this will benefit children and young people
The Equality Bill is a new law that is going to bring together all of the existing discrimination laws into one place. It will also make discriminating against someone because of their religion, beliefs, sexuality or age (if they are over 18) against the law. Discrimination law is any law that stops people being treated unfairly because of their race, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, age, health, political opinion and family. Discrimination is being treated unfairly because of something like race, gender, age, sexuality or disability.
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The Department for Children, Schools and Families is working with NGOs to try to get better images of children and young people in the media
Laws have been introduced to give children and young people a stronger say in decision-making.
But the Government still has a lot to do before it fully respects these principles for children and young people:
Children’s best interests are often not a top priority for the Government when it is dealing with certain groups of children, including children in trouble with the law, and young refugees and asylum seekers Best interests mean that people should always think about what is really the best thing for that child or young person.
The new Equality Bill does not protect under-18s from age discrimination, even though it protects over-18s
Many parts of the Government give out very negative messages about children and young people – especially children who are in trouble with the law
A new law that says school governors must ask students about all different areas of school life has not come into force because the Government has not yet written rules telling schools how to do this
Research with children and young people shows that, although they are often asked for their views, they do not feel they are actually listened to, or that their views are taken seriously.
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Civil rights and freedoms
This chapter looks at Articles 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, and 37. These articles cover the right to a name and nationality, the right to say what you think (freedom of expression), the right to believe what you want (freedom of religion and belief), the right to come together in public (freedom of association), the right to privacy and the right not to be hurt or treated badly. The Government has made some steps towards better respecting children’s civil rights and freedoms: An Anti-Social Behaviour Order, or ASBO, is a legal order that protects the community from the anti-social behaviour of one person. Breaking an ASBO is a criminal offence.
It has asked local councils to do more to make sure children and young people with ASBOs get the support they need to change their behaviour
It has removed the DNA profiles of all The National DNA Database holds the children under 10 from the national information of people who have been DNA database
It has said it will review how children and young people who appear on TV are treated – to make sure that their welfare and privacy is respected
It has put plans into practice to deal better with violence against women and girls
It has given advice to help local councils and others protect children and young people from sexual exploitation
taken into police custody or who may have been present at crime scenes, whether they are innocent or guilty. It is the largest database of its kind.
Sexual exploitation is a type of child abuse. It involves situations and relationships where young people receive money or other things (like food, housing or gifts) as a result of them carrying out sexual activities. Sexual exploitation can take lots of different forms including prostitution, pornography, and child trafficking. It can also include forced marriages.
But there are many areas where the Government has not done enough to act on the UN Committee’s recommendations to protect children’s civil rights:
The Government has refused to look at whether ASBOs, curfews and dispersal orders should be used at all with children and young people
The Government has not strengthened data protection (rules about how information is kept and used) to take into account the needs of children and young people (which are different from the needs of adults)
The Government still keeps the DNA of innocent children and young people (over the age of 10) on the national DNA database. It did not take into account a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights saying that children must be treated differently from adults on this database.
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) has its own court, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. This allows people (including children) who think their government has failed to protect their rights under the ECHR, or acted against those rights, to take their case to the European Court. Governments must respect the Court’s decision. It is unusual for a human rights treaty to have its own court, which is why the European Court of Human Rights is important for protecting children’s rights.
The Government has again said it will not ban smacking, even though the UN Committee has asked it 3 times to do this
The Government still allows the use of painful restraint on children who are in prison. Restraint is physically holding someone to stop them doing something, for example, to stop them hitting someone else or hurting themselves.
There is still no national plan to deal with all types of violence against children, or to put the UN’s recommendations (from 2006) on stopping violence against children into practice.
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Family environment and
alternative care This chapter looks at Articles 5, 9, 10, 11, 18, 20, 21 and 27. These articles cover how children should be treated in their families, what happens if parents separate, and how children should be treated if they need to live away from home. The Government’s progress on the rights of children and young people in their families and in the care system has been mixed.
The Government has put lots of money into providing support to try to help parents bring up children better
The Government has looked again at the child protection system in England, and is taking action to try to improve it
There have been good laws and advice (guidance) to try to make sure children in care get the help they need
The Government has new plans to better protect children from physical and sexual violence
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But there are still things that the Government has not taken action on:
The review of child protection in England did not cover all the things that harm children, including making sure that children and young people are listened to when decisions are made about keeping them safe
Laws and policies affecting children in care are not being carried out properly by all local councils – this means that not all children’s rights are fully respected, and many children and young people do not get the help they need
Too many children in care have had too many changes of placement, which makes it hard for them to have a settled life, keep in touch with family and friends, or do well in school When a child goes into care, he or she will be given a new place to live. This is called a placement.
Children and young people find it very hard to make complaints about the services they use or the schools they go to
There is no national record of all the types of violence against children and young people – this makes it hard for the Government to plan properly to deal with violence against children, no matter where that violence happens.
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Basic health and welfare
This chapter looks at Articles 18, 23, 24, 26 and 27. These articles cover the health care and benefits that children should have. There have been lots of improvements for children and young people’s health and well-being in the last year:
Research shows that most children and young people think they have ‘good’ or ‘very good’ health
Research shows that children and young people drink less alcohol, smoke less, and eat more healthily
The Government has published its plan for improving children and young people’s health – called the Child Health Strategy
The Government has ratified (agreed to follow) the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This gives stronger rights to people with disabilities (including children), and allows them to complain directly to the United Nations if these rights are being ignored
PSHE has become part of the compulsory national curriculum in primary and secondary schools (which means it has to be taught)
The Government has introduced a Child Poverty Bill to “eradicate” (get rid of) poverty among children and young people in the UK
But the Government has not done enough to fully deal with some of the things that stop children and young people enjoying good health and treatment:
The Child Health Strategy does not make sure all children and young people – no matter where they live, who they are, or how much money they have – have the same chances to be healthy
Many children and young people still find it hard to get the help they need from mental health services (although the Government has plans to deal with this)
Services for children with disabilities usually ask parents for their views on how well services meet their needs, instead of asking children
Although the Government agreed to follow the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, it made reservations that could deny some children with disabilities equal status and citizenship A reservation is when a government wants to sign up to an international treaty but does not agree with a particular article. It then puts a reservation in place so that it does not have to follow that article. A reservation cannot go against the spirit of what the treaty is trying to achieve.
Parents still have the right to remove their children from sex and relationships education in school
The Child Poverty Bill has re-set the Government’s target for reducing the number of children and young people living in poverty to less than 10%. Children’s charities think this is not low enough, and that more must be done to help take all children and young people out of poverty
The Government has made no progress on making local authorities provide travellers with safe sites to live on.
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Education Leisure Culture
This chapter covers Articles 28, 29 and 31. These articles say that all children must have an education, the right to play, and chances to have cultural experiences. The UNCRC says all these things help children and young people develop fully and become the best that they can be. Some of the work the Government has done this year on education and play has helped children and young people to better enjoy their rights under the UNCRC:
National tests at Key Stage 3 have been scrapped
The Government’s national play strategy and the money it has put into play is starting to change things for children and young people in their local areas School governing bodies now have a legal duty to ask
students for their views about different things in their schools (but this law has not come into force yet)
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The Government has given advice to local councils on preventing bullying in playgrounds and play spaces.
But there are still many areas, especially in education, where children and young people cannot fully enjoy their rights:
Children’s human rights are still not part of the education system
Children in care and children with special educational needs are still more likely to be excluded from school than other children and young people
Children and young people are still tested at Key Stage 2 – and many schools still test children at Key Stage 3 even though national tests have been scrapped
Children and young people that can have free school meals do not do as well in exams as other students
Despite Government guidance, there is still a lot of bullying and violence in schools
Very little has been done to make sure children and young people can get help in school with emotional and mental health problems
There has been no progress by the Government to make sure that the new law to make school governors listen to students comes into force quickly
The Government has denied children under the age of 16 the right to decide not to take part in religious worship in school.
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Special protection measures
This chapter covers Articles 22, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39 and 40. These articles give rights to children and young people in special situations, including refugee children, children who are in trouble with the law and children who have been taken advantage of. They set out how these children should be treated. The Government has tried to improve children’s rights protection for our most vulnerable children and young people:
Advice was produced for immigration officials on how to keep young refugees and asylum seekers safe
Immigration is the movement of people in and out of the country.
The UK Border Agency is the Government department that is There is a new legal duty for UK Border Agency staff to keep children safe and well (in responsible for policy about refugee and asylum seeking children (in the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act partnership with the Department for 2009) Children, Schools and Families)
Action has been taken to protect the rights of Trafficking is when someone is children who are victims of or witnesses to secretly moved to another country or crime
The Government has agreed to follow 2 international treaties (laws) aimed at protecting the rights of trafficking victims, and has brought in new plans to do this
The views of 10 to 16 year-olds are now included in the British Crime Survey
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within their own country to be exploited for money. There can be many reasons for this, such as working in the sex trade, carrying illegal drugs, or being forced to work somewhere for little or no money. This breaks human rights rules.
The British Crime Survey is a survey carried out every year for the Government about crime in the UK. It finds out important information about levels of crime, what people think about crime (including victims and offenders) and the different kinds of crimes that people experience. The results help the Government make plans for dealing with crime better.
A young offender institution is a children’s prison run by the Government. A secure raining centre is a prison for 12 to 17 year-olds run by a private company. A secure children’s home is a locked children’s home run by a local council (it follows the same rules as other children’s homes).
Local councils are now to be responsible for the education of children who are locked up (such as in a young offender institution, secure training centre or secure children’s home)
The Government has ratified (agreed to follow) the UNCRC Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography
The UNCRC Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography says that governments must punish people who are involved in the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and that child victims must be well supported.
But there are still some very worrying cases where children’s rights are being ignored, and the Government has done little to deal with this:
Children’s best interests are not a top priority for law and policy about children in trouble with the law, and young refugees and asylum seekers
The Government is still locking up children, and families with children, for immigration reasons
The Government has still not allowed research to be seen which looks at how to treat refugee children where their age cannot be agreed on (age-disputed children) Age disputes are where there is a disagreement about whether a person is under or over 18 years-old.
The high number of children sent to child prisons in England show that prison is not being used as a last resort
The Government has not held a public inquiry into the deaths of children and young people in prison
The Government will not make changes that are needed to the youth justice system – including changes to the age of criminal responsibility, in how children and young people are sentenced, and in the support that children and young people are given
The age of criminal responsibility is the age when the law says a person must take full responsibility for the Painful restraint is still crime they have committed. The age of criminal allowed to be used against children who are responsibility in England is 10.
locked up Restraint is physically holding someone to stop them doing something, for example, to stop them hitting someone else or hurting themselves.
Inspection reports on child prisons show that the treatment of many children who are locked up go against their human rights.
Optional Protocol on involving children in armed conflict
Optional Protocols are new rules added to human rights treaties that governments can decide if they want to agree to. The UK Government agreed to follow the Optional Protocol on Involving Children in Armed Conflict in 2003. This gives extra rights to children who are in the armed forces, and to children who have been affected by war.
Last year, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child made 30 recommendations about where the Government must do more to put these rights into practice. There have been some improvements:
Ofsted has inspected the treatment and welfare of under-18s in the Armed Forces Fewer under-18s are being sent to military prison if they commit crimes; instead it is more likely they will serve any sentences in their units Conditions for children locked up at the Military Corrective and Training Centre (a military prison) have improved. Child protection systems are now in place and are thought to be working well.
But there are recommendations that the Government has not dealt with:
The Government still recruits 16 and 17 year-olds into the Armed Forces and has no plans to change this The Government has said it will not remove its interpretative declaration on the Optional Protocol. This means that 16 and 17 year-olds can still be sent to war zones if it is an emergency An interpretative declaration sets out how a Government has interpreted part, or all of an international treaty. It is different to a reservation, which is when a government wants to sign up to an international treaty but does not agree with a particular article. A declaration cannot go against the spirit of the treaty.
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There is no training for the Armed Forces on the UNCRC, although some officers do have training on how to deal with children they come into contact with
Inspectors found that 16 and 17 year-olds joining the Armed Forces are not always given good information about what this involves
Those who join the Army at age 16 or 17 must serve a minimum of 4 years from their 18th birthday – meaning that a 16 year-old will have to serve 6 years while a 19 year-old will only have to serve 4 years
Inspectors found that in units training only under-18s, only 1 in 3 staff had been checked by the Criminal Records Bureau
16 and 17 year-olds in the Armed Forces who commit crimes are not dealt with by the youth justice system but through the military courts
Inspectors found that those locked up in the Military Corrective and Training Centre (a military prison) do not have enough contact with their families, especially by telephone
Many local councils have no special services to help young refugees and asylum seekers who have been child soldiers or who have been affected by war and conflict.
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The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child The UN Convention has 54 articles. Articles are different parts of the UNCRC that say what rights children have, and how the Government should protect them. Article 1 A child is a person aged 17 or under. Article 2 All the rights in the UNCRC belong to all children. Article 3 Children must always be a top priority. Article 4 Governments must do all they can to protect children’s rights. Article 5 Parents can give children advice and help about their rights. Article 6 Every child has the right to be alive and to develop into the best person they can be. Article 7 Every child has the right to a name and nationality, and to be cared for by both parents. Article 8 Governments must protect the child’s right to a name, a nationality and family life. Article 9 Every child has the right to keep in regular contact with both parents so long as this is the best thing for the child. Article 10 Decisions about a child going to live in another country should be made quickly and fairly. Article 11 Governments must work together to stop children being taken illegally to another country. Article 12 Every child has the right to express his or her views, and those views must be taken seriously. Article 13 Every child has the right to express him or herself and to receive all kinds of information and ideas (this is called freedom of expression). Article 14 Every child has the right to have his or her own beliefs and religion. Article 15 Every child has the right to meet people and to be outside in a group (this is called freedom of association). Article 16 The law must protect every child’s right to privacy.
Article 17 Governments must make sure children get lots of different information about all sorts of things. They should protect children from harmful information. Article 18 Governments must support parents. Parents must always try to do what is best for children. Article 19 Every child must be protected from all types of violence, abuse, neglect and bad treatment. Article 20 Children who do not live with their parents have the right to extra protection. Article 21 The child must be the top priority in adoption. Article 22 Children who are refugees, or trying to be refugees, have the right to extra protection. Article 23 Disabled children have the right to a full life, and to be part of the community. Article 24 Every child has the right to the best possible health. Article 25 Children who are in care or who live away from home for health reasons should have their care checked regularly. Article 26 Governments must support every child’s right to have enough money. Article 27 Children have the right to get everything they need to develop fully. Article 28 Every child has the right to education. Article 29 Education is about helping children to develop fully as people. Article 30 Children must never be stopped from enjoying their own culture, religion or language. Article 31 Every child has the right to rest, play and to do things they enjoy. Article 32 Children must be protected from harmful work. Article 33 Governments must do everything to protect children from illegal drugs. Article 34 Governments must protect children from being hurt sexually.
Article 35 Governments must do everything to protect children from being taken away or sold. Article 36 Governments must protect children from all other harm. Article 37 Every child has the right to protection from torture and very bad treatment. Article 38 Children must be protected from wars and from joining the armed forces. Article 39 Governments must give good support to children who have been abused or hurt. Article 40 Children who are in trouble with the law have many extra rights, including the right to privacy, the right to a lawyer and, wherever possible, the right not to go to court or be sent to prison. Article 42 Governments must tell everyone about all the rights in the UNCRC. Articles 41 to 54 These articles say how children’s rights should be checked, and how governments should promote, protect and respect all the rights in the UNCRC.
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Optional Protocol on Involving Children in Armed Conflict Article 1 Governments will do everything they can to make sure that members of the armed forces who are under-18 do not take a direct part in hostilities. Article 2 Governments will make sure that children who are under-18 are not made to join the armed forces. Article 3 Governments agreeing to this Protocol must raise the minimum age for the voluntary recruitment of people into the armed forces from 15 (as set out in Article 38 of the UNCRC) Governments that let children (under-18s) voluntarily join the armed forces must make sure their recruitment is genuinely voluntary, that they have a parent or legal guardian’s permission, that the people involved (the child and the parents) know what the job involves, and that they can prove the child’s age. Article 4 Armed groups that are separate from a government’s armed forces must not recruit anyone under-18, or use them in hostilities. Governments must do everything they can to stop such recruitment, including making it against the law. Article 5 If a government has laws that give more protection to the rights of children in the armed forces, this Optional Protocol will not come before those laws. Article 6 Governments must do everything they can to put this Protocol into practice. Governments must make sure both children and adults know about the rights in this Protocol Governments must make sure that any children that have been recruited into the armed forces against this Protocol, or who have taken part in wars or fighting, are released from the armed forces and given all the help they need to rejoin society. Article 7 to 13 These articles set out what governments must do to put this Protocol into practice, including reporting on what they are doing to the United Nations.
The Government made a statement when it agreed to follow this Optional Protocol. This said that the minimum age for joining the armed forces would stay at 16. 16 and 17 year olds need parental consent to join the armed forces. This is called an interpretative declaration. The Government’s statement also said that it would not stop under-18s taking a direct part in hostilities if an urgent deployment meant they couldn’t be removed from duty, or if removing them from duty would put the mission or other people at risk.
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Notes
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Notes
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This report was designed by CRAE’s young advisers, with support from CRAE staff. About the Children’s Rights Alliance for England The Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) is a group of organisations in England that work together to get the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child put into practice everywhere. We check Government action on children’s human rights, and every year we publish a State of children’s rights in England report. We also send reports to the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and other important human rights organisations. We work with the Government and with Parliament to encourage them to make laws and policies that are in line with children’s human rights. We try to stop, or change, laws and policies that go against children’s human rights. We send out information and speak out for children’s rights in the media, and run events for children and young people all over the country. If you are under 18, it is free to join the Children’s Rights Alliance for England. Find out more To find out more about any of the issues in this report, you can visit CRAE’s website at http://www.getreadyforchange.org.uk/childrens_rights. You can also contact us by phone on 020 7278 8222, by e-mail at info@crae.org.uk, or by post: Children’s Rights Alliance for England 94 White Lion Street London N1 9PF