On 16 July 2024 Scotland incorporated the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into Scots Law, within the limits of devolution.
Our report, It’s not just their job, it’s our whole lives, outlines how the rights of children and young people from Armed Forces Families families are affected across the three categories of protection, provision, and participation.
The most important part is the shared experiences of the children and young people and what they have said is needed to promote their rights. With them, we have made recommendations for decision makers at all levels of governments.
You can access the full report below, or download it in a number of ways:
If you would like to access the information in this document in a different format, please email us: admin@forceschildrenscotland.org.uk
We would like to thank the children and young people of Leuchars Primary School, Firrhill High School, Colinton Primary School, Queen Victoria School, Scots Corner Youth Group, and the young people who joined us online for contributing to the Human Rights Bill consultation.
We would also like to thank the eight young people who attended our Rights Residential and subsequent online sessions and gave us great insight into their lives and experience of human rights.
This report has had input from over 160 children and young people between the ages of 8-19 years old across multiple areas in Scotland.
These four guiding principles underpin the specific rights outlined in the UNCRC, which can also be understood through the categories of protection, provision, and participation.
Protection rights ensure children are protected from actions that threaten their dignity, their survival, or their development.
These rights include Article 9 – to not be separated from their parents, Article 3 – for all decisions made about them to have their best interests as a primary consideration, Article 2 – non-discrimination, and Article 16 – to be protected from arbitrary or unlawful interference with their privacy, family home or correspondence and.
Children and young people from Armed Forces families often face barriers to their protection rights due to their parent’s service.
The UNCRC present the basic standards which countries must meet to ensure children have access to the services, skills, and resources they need for their survival and development to their full potential.
These rights include Article 18 – assistance for parents to fulfil their parenting responsibilities, including access to childcare and family support, Article 28 and 29 – access to education which develops the whole child to their fullest potential, Article 24 – access to highest attainable standard of health, and Article 27 – the right to a standard of living adequate for their development, including the housing they need. All of these rights have been raised as challenges by children and young people from Armed Forces families.
Children and young people have rights to participation through Articles 12, 13, 17, 15 and 31 which enshrine their entitlement to have their views heard and taken seriously, to access information, to have freedom of association and access to play, rest and culture. Key to the right to participation is access to justice when rights are breached. For this to happen children and adults must know all children’s rights in accordance with Article 42.
Children and young people from Armed Forces families often feel unheard by decision-makers due to state-led decision-making that determines so much of their experiences.
Here is a story showing what protection rights are, and how they can be challenged by the demands of Forces life. For example, children and young people with a Submariner parent are sometimes separated from them, going extended periods with limited contact.
Here is a story showing what provision rights are, and how they can be affected when a parent or loved one is in the Armed Forces. For example, moving frequently means children and young people’s education can be disrupted.
Here is a story showing what participation rights are, and how they can be affected when a parent or loved one is in the Armed Forces. Too often, children and young people’s perspectives are overlooked, even when their lives are affected by their parent’s service.
When a Forces parent transitions to Veteran status, the whole family feels it. Forces children’s lives and identities can change overnight, and the support that is available to serving families doesn’t always follow them to civvy street.
Forces life can sometimes affect the ability for children with additional support needs to receive the support that they deserve.