Children's right to protest

There is a long history around the world of children taking action to defend human rights, which continues today. Whether it is tackling racism, disability discrimination, the impact of climate change, or the treatment of refugees, children are standing up for human rights and making their voices heard.

Recently, the School Strikes for Climate had a powerful impact in 2019 as children around the world demanded government action on the climate crisis.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides vital rights for children who are campaigning for human rights, including rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of peaceful assembly.

1. The child shall have the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child’s choice.
2. The exercise of this right may be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
   1. for respect of the rights or reputations of others; or
   2. for the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals.

1. States Parties recognise the rights of the child to freedom of association and to freedom of peaceful assembly.
2. No restrictions may be placed on the exercise of these rights other than those imposed in conformity with the law and which are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

However, all too often the rights of child human rights defenders to take action and campaign in defence of human rights are restricted or denied.

Last year the Rights of Child Human Rights Defenders: Implementation Guide by Child Rights Connect was launched. It acknowledges that children are acting to defend human rights around the world and provides guidance on empowering them to do so without breaches of their own rights or unnecessary restrictions.

The guide describes the challenges and barriers which child human rights defenders face including: ‘not having access to information, including about their rights; not being taken seriously by adults; receiving physical and verbal abuse and threats online and offline; being prevented from action by their families, elders, schools or the police; and not having access to or information about effective supports or remedies.’

Child human rights defenders also face punitive measures as school for exercising their rights to take action to defend human rights. Children may face disciplinary measures, including suspension from school, for their peaceful human rights activity, such as attending a protest.

We believe that children have the right to take action in defence of human rights, and should not be penalised for exercising their rights. We are launching a campaign to call on the nations of the UK to ensure that children are protected from being penalised at school for carrying out human rights defending activity.

Children protesting in defence of human rights face proposed new legislative restrictions. The Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill is currently in Parliament. It has been passed in the House of Commons and is now being considered by the House of Lords.

The Bill has been described as an assault on our freedoms, threatening the right to peaceful protest by giving the police more powers to restrict, criminalise and shut down peaceful protest.

Anna Warren, Children’s Human Rights Network Committee member, describes her experience of the school strikes for climate and concerns about the Bill: