Disabled Children: The Right to Feel Safe

Abstract

This article explores the fundamental right of disabled children to feel safe and be free from bullying, harassment and abuse. The article proposes that, 20 years since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, disabled children are still facing barriers to securing this right. The article focuses on recent Mencap research that shows a very high incidence of bullying of children and young people with a learning disability; and also how measures to prevent and tackle bullying are hindered by a lack of compliance around new legal duties on schools to eliminate the discrimination and harassment of disabled people. The article links the high incidence of bullying with the similarly high incidence of abuse of disabled children, and proposes that these should be considered within the context of a safeguarding continuum. It is argued that the UK government and devolved administrations should respond to the 2008 report of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and ensure the legislation providing protection for persons with disabilities is effectively implemented. Furthermore, increased priority must be given to the inclusion of disabled children in society in order to reduce their marginalisation and consequent vulnerability to bullying, harassment and abuse.

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