ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ways in which the United Kingdom has responded to the Convention on the Rights of the Child ('the Convention') together with the impact of domestic scandals on legislation and practice concerning child abuse and children's rights. The United Kingdom's first report was presented on time in February 1994. It reviews the United Kingdom's obligation under Convention in formal, largely legal and administrative terms, stating what had been done and summarising changes in law. Children's right to engage in sexual activity is restricted. Consenting heterosexual acts are permitted from the age of 16, but consenting homosexual acts from the age of 18 only. ARTICLE 12 is an organisation run by and for children and young people under 18. It has two aims: first, to ensure that children have a right to express their views and have their views taken seriously, and second, to try to ensure that the rights set out in the Children's Convention are implemented.
