Written evidence submitted by the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY), related to the effect of paramilitaries on society in Northern Ireland inquiry (PNI0016)

Introduction

The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY) was created in accordance with ‘The Commissioner for Children and Young People (NI) Order’ (2003) to safeguard and promote the rights and best interests of children and young people.

NICCY’s submission will focus on responding to Question 3 - ‘How effective measures under the Fresh Start Agreement have been in combining police and justice measures and tackling socio-economic issues to eradicate paramilitarism in Northern Ireland?’

NICCY advice to the Northern Ireland Executive has been to ensure a unified strategic response to protect children from harm including abuse, violence, coercion and exploitation by organised gangs and groups, going beyond a focus on police and justice measures, and tackling socio-economic issues.  Also, that when addressing the “legacy of the conflict” all governments must take into account the impact on today’s children and young people all of whom were born after the Good Friday Agreement.

Children’s rights, safeguarding, abuse and paramilitary-style attacks

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)[1] sets out minimum standards for children’s rights across all areas of their lives such as, including rights to life and protection from all harm, abuse, exploitation and violence. It addresses specific protections from: all forms of physical and mental violence, injury or abuse, sexual abuse and exploitation and neglect or maltreatment; protection from trafficking; from all forms of economic exploitation; and from use in the illicit production and trafficking of drugs.

In 2016, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern that ‘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.” In its Concluding Observations, the Committee advised in relation to Northern Ireland the state should:

“….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; to ensure the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation are implemented; and to further develop comprehensive support services for children who are at risk of or have been subject to violence, abuse and exploitation.”[2]

Furthermore, the UN Committee on the Convention Against Torture expressed concerns in its 2019 Concluding Observations to the UK government about the continued exposure of children to paramilitarism through ‘punishment’ and recruitment.[3]

The Legacy of the Conflict, and its impact on children and young people 

The impact of the conflict has varied across communities and circumstances and the legacy of the ‘Troubles’ on many children, families and the areas in which they live is still heavily felt. Segregation and community division continue to be a part of daily life for many children and research demonstrates that there are increased levels of child poverty, childhood mental ill-health, educational inequalities and disabilities in the areas which have suffered most as a result of the conflict.[4]

While there has been progress in addressing key aspects of the conflict, the existence of paramilitary and organised crime groups has been assessed as a continuing “clear and present danger.”[5] For such communities, structural issues, such as lack of investment and economic and social inequality can combine powerfully with intergenerational trauma, concerns about the legitimacy or effectiveness of government and statutory agencies, lack of political consensus in addressing key legacy issues and contested ideas of identity and belonging to create particular conditions of vulnerability for children and young people.

Commentators have noted the extent to which experiences of community violence and trauma can shape daily life in some areas,[6] and it is accepted that exposure to conflict related intergenerational trauma is an adverse childhood experience.[7] 

The Youth Wellbeing Prevalence Survey found that more than two in five young people reported that paramilitary groups create fear and intimidation in their area with more than half agreeing or strongly agreeing that paramilitary groups contribute to crime, drug dealing and anti-social behaviour in their area.[8] It is, of course, important to highlight that without more comprehensive data, the number of children and young people subject to such harms and the full range of these will remain unknown.

In 2021, an important research report ‘It Didn’t End in 1998’[9] commissioned by the Commission for Victims and Survivors from QUB provides a more comprehensive picture of the impact of the legacy of the conflict across generations. It draws on the experiences of young people and others in their communities and demonstrates that ‘the intimidation, abuse and exploitation of children by paramilitary-style groups remains a reality’ and emphasises the importance of investigating and prosecuting perpetrators of violence against children.

NICCY’s work on safeguarding young people

NICCY has received reports from officials, voluntary, community groups and young people themselves about the wide range of persistent and serious harms they are subjected to. Over recent years the Commissioner has brought together stakeholders to address assaults on children and young people within particular areas and is mindful that concerns about young people’s safety includes not only threats of and actual assaults, beatings and shootings; sexual exploitation[10] but also threats to life; exploitation in relation to debts; exploitation into criminal activities such as drug distribution and supply; involvement in the intimidation of or harm to others; involvement of children in public order offences, violent protest and civil unrest; and young people being recruited into or claimed by paramilitary or criminal groups. 

The Commissioner strongly encourages a move away from the language of paramilitaries towards that of criminal gangs to avoid any perception of legitimacy. Specifically, the discourse around paramilitary style attacks should aim to dispel the narrative that children or adults deserve such violence by using clear and consistent language of assault and violence and is in keeping with the trauma-informed approach.

NICCY is clear that the concerns outlined in this paper relate directly to the abuse and exploitation of children and young people and must be recognised and named as such. We also note that the instability of recent months and current political uncertainty has heightened the need for all those engaging in debate, including elected representatives and the media, to look with urgency at these concerns and to remain mindful of the tone and language in which they are discussed.  Reports and media coverage across the civil unrest in April 2021, highlighted children as young as 12 and 13 being encouraged by adults to engage in violence against the PSNI.[11]

Child exploitation and contextual safeguarding

Approaches to child protection and safeguarding have developed with a strong focus on children’s early years and on harm that occurs within family settings although more recently the need for responses to effectively address sources of abuse which occur elsewhere in has been highlighted – starkly illustrated by investigations and reports into failures to respond to CSE. ‘Contextual safeguarding’ seeks to take better account of the risks and harms that young people can be exposed to outside of their home environment, highlighting the need to identify, understand and respond to abuse and exploitation regardless of the place or context in which it occurs.[12] Associated with work on CSE and young people and gang violence, this highlights that interventions must be effective in the environments in which children are exposed to risk and violence, including neighbourhoods and public spaces, and that as there will likely be many children at risk in the setting, they must have a wider focus than on an individual child.[13]

Public health approaches to violence reduction, which have been under discussion in Northern Ireland,[14] should be developed to seek to address the levels of harm and violence in communities with models and initiatives, such as Violence Reduction Units, requiring not only that those current and underlying situations are addressed but also that multi-agency and partnerships approaches are developed and deployed.  A key aspect of such perspectives has been to highlight that children must be seen as children first and that they are being subject to abuse and exploitation. Studies on gang violence highlight the complex dynamics of children’s vulnerability and exploitation[15].

In 2017, NICCY held a series of meetings with all relevant authorities including with PSNI and NIO, and with statutory agencies, community representatives and organisations and political representatives.  The Commissioner also met and heard from young people.  A number of observations and recommendations were made which remain relevant today and are echoed in this paper.

Children and young people have talked to NICCY about intimidation and enforced community segregation by paramilitaries. Adverse childhood experiences and intergenerational trauma (including personal family circumstances and tragedy) related to the ‘conflict’ can significantly increase ‘vulnerability’ to recruitment into paramilitarism.  Research suggests instances of paramilitary abuse to be much more frequent and widespread than recorded statistics reveal, particularly in areas experiencing the dual impacts of conflict legacy and poverty[16] . It is important to challenge assumptions of autonomy and choice in relation to young people’s engagement within paramilitaries. In reality, these children do not believe that they have a choice about their involvement.  The challenge for young people of removing themselves from drug and other debts and the dynamics of exploitation associated with this can be overwhelming and the particular, but not exclusive, impact of many of these forms of harm on males in their adolescence cannot be ignored. It must be remembered that such exploitation is also set against the broader range of harmful activities of organised groups and gangs, including threats to life, shootings and assaults, exclusion from areas and harassment and intimidation.

The development of Threat to Life Practice Guidance which defines such threats as “an extreme form of child abuse” [17] and seeks to ensure a coordinated response to these is welcome and reflects the depth of harm contained in such threats.  However, as highlighted in ‘It Didn’t End in 1998’, young people have little confidence in policing, and there can be a feeling of hopelessness regarding threats from paramilitaries.[18]

Safeguarding guidance recognises that, in the context of the conflict, “children may also be abused or exploited by adults who hold power within their communities …” and notes that young people may be threatened with violence and subject to forced expulsion from their homes and local areas by those linked to organised gangs or groups.[19]  But it places it within existing child protection framework of physical, emotional, sexual abuse and neglect which does not allow for exploitation by groups and gangs in the context of the legacy of the conflict to be explored.[20] A similar theme is apparent in Northern Ireland’s guidance on Trafficking and Modern Slavery which, while highlighting the need to recognise child exploitation and safeguarding procedures, does not draw attention to this in relation to exploitation by organised groups and gangs within communities.[21] Neither processes take into account Home Office guidance which clearly states that the involvement of young people in criminal activities is Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE), a form of modern slavery which

“occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, control, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18 into any criminal activity (a) in exchange for something the victim needs or wants, and/or (b) for the financial or other advantage of the perpetrator or facilitator and/or (c) through violence or the threat of violence. The victim may have been criminally exploited even if the activity appears consensual. CCE does not always involve physical contact; it can also occur through the use of technology”.[22]

While exploitation and slavery are associated with the trafficking of children or adults from other countries or with particular forms of abuse, many of the dynamics of exploitation, the harms to children and the range of activities involved are mirrored in the context of paramilitary or criminal groups operating in communities.  For instance, ‘County Lines’ is recognised as a form of CCE with UK referrals for child victims of modern slavery increasing significantly directly due to such cases in England now following associated referral procedures (through the National Referral Mechanism).[23] The UK Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner has noted the low referral rates for children in NI and has stated that statutory agencies view that this is not a significant issue here.[24] This is not a perspective shared by the Commissioner and others.  Home Office guidance is also clear that in addition to safeguarding procedures being instigated, referral in relation to modern slavery should trigger the gathering of evidence about abusers[25] and ensuring that there is a strong criminal justice focus.

NICCY’s advice to Northern Ireland Executive

It is important to acknowledge the vital role of community and voluntary organisations as well as the involvement of many statutory agencies, such as the Education Authority and PSNI. However, the consistent and active presence of safeguarding agencies and children’s social care (identified as having a key role in partnership working elsewhere) is less which may be due to the lack of robust safeguarding policy or procedures.

To be effective, the response to this abuse and exploitation of children and young people must be collaborative across statutory and non-statutory; address how such harm to children will be prevented, how young people at risk will be protected and the steps that will be taken to disrupt and pursue perpetrators.

In July 2021, the Commissioner issued advice to the Ministers for Health and for Justice, calling for[26] stating that unified strategic response to protect children from harm including abuse, violence, coercion and exploitation by organised gangs and groups. This response must be embedded in safeguarding and children in need processes and must:

1. Raise awareness of child abuse and exploitation
2. Prevent harm and abuse to children and young people
3. Protect and intervene where children are abused and exploited
4. Pursue those who seek to harm, abuse and exploit children:. 

The Ministers of Health and Justice have accepted the recommendations in this paper and agreed that they would be progressed through the Child Protection Senior Officers Group. The Commissioner expects that an action plan will be delivered to the group at the end of the Summer.

Fresh Start

‘Fresh Start’ and the Action Plan on ‘Tackling Paramilitary Activity, Criminality and Organised Crime’ and commitments of ‘New Decade, New Approach’ seek to address the legacy of the conflict on communities. For example, the Action Plan includes specific areas to support those who may be particularly vulnerable to ‘criminal control’ and ‘paramilitary activity’, to respond to underlying social and economic conditions and improve young people’s educational and employment prospects.[27]

The Executive Programme on Paramilitarism and Organised Crime has identified programmes and investments aimed at preventing and addressing the victimisation of children, challenging attitudes and condemning paramilitary activity are welcome however their impact is yet unknown and other actions, particularly those requiring inter-agency working have been slower to progress.[28]

Low clear-up and prosecution rates and fear act as barriers to reporting. Statistics show that of 317 reported paramilitary-style attacks between 2013 and 2016, formal charges or court summons were brought in only 3% of cases. Indeed, children themselves question the State’s ability and willingness to protect, prohibit and respond to paramilitary abuse. 

Conclusion

Almost 25 years on from the Good Friday Agreement, communities across Northern Ireland continue to live with the legacy of the conflict.

Children, young people and families should be safe in their homes and in their communities, villages, towns and cities. The ongoing political instability undermines the efforts to achieve this. It is critical that governments, statutory bodies and others work together to prioritise children’s rights and address the impact of the ongoing legacy of the conflict on the generation who were born after the Good Friday Agreement.

NICCY’s response to question 3 is as follows.

The Fresh Start Panel (2016) and the Independent Reporting Commission (2018) have both enforced the need to address systemic issues – material deprivation, social and economic stability, education and employment opportunities – drawing attention to the link between social deprivation and paramilitarism / conflict. Yet in the first review of the Fresh Start Implementation Plan, a number of these systemic issues were highlighted as requiring further action. The Independent Review Commission stated, for example, that a ‘stronger cross-departmental approach’ was required to further ‘steps to significantly and measurably improve the educational and employment prospects of children and young people in deprived communities’.[29]

An effective programme to tackle paramilitarism must have at its core an urgent response to the realities of young people’s lives – lives which are characterised by financial struggles, poor mental health, housing insecurities, a sense of hopelessness with regard to education and employment opportunities, and an overwhelming sense that they are not part of a community or a country emerging from political conflict. [30] Progress has been curtailed by political instabilities and there is a significant recommendation by the IRC is to have a standalone outcome to tackle Paramilitarism in the Assembly Mandate 2022-2027.[31]

The notion that these issues can be addressed through one action plan or process is folly.  The legacy of the conflict and the impact of paramilitary “style” criminal gangs impacts on every aspect of children's lives across Northern Ireland and therefore it is the responsibility of every children’s service to address this in partnership with communities, families and of course children themselves.  This can only be achieved by taking a children’s rights approach and a commitment to not compartmentalise children’s lives or trauma.

May 2022