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All different, All equal

13 – 17

years

old

What does this mean?

How is this right protected in Ireland?

Does every child in Ireland enjoy this right?

How can we be different and equal?

Bahir’s story

Charlie’s story

Darren’s story

What does this mean?

It’s your right to be treated fairly, no matter who you are, where you live, where you’re from, what your parents do, what language you speak, what religion you are, what gender you are, what sexuality you are, what your culture is, whether you have a disability, whether you are rich or poor.

This is set out in Article 2 of the UNCRC

Children should not be treated differently. All children have the same rights, and should get the same rights, no matter who they are.

If you are treated differently to other people because of who you are, that’s called discrimination. Discrimination isn’t just bullying. It also might happen if you can’t access a service because of who you are, or if the service isn’t helpful for you, like the doctor, a school or sports team.

How is this right protected in Ireland?

Under the Equal Status Act 2000 in Ireland, it’s your right to be treated equally. You can’t be treated differently and discriminated against on the following grounds: gender, civil status (married/single/civil partnership), family status, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, race/ethnic background/nationality, membership of the Traveller community.

There are laws that protect you from hate speech and hate crime. Hate crime happens when someone is treated harmfully just because of who they are.

Does every child in Ireland enjoy this right?

Although the government has made different strategies to help make Ireland a more equal place, not every child gets their right to non-discrimination.

Migrant children, Traveller and Roma children, LGBTQI+ children, children in poverty, children in care, homeless children and children with a disability or mental health difficulty are some groups in Ireland that can face difficulties in being treated equally.

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child said in 2023 that these groups do not enjoy their rights on an equal basis with other children in Ireland.

**How can we be different and equal?**

Sometimes you can treat everyone “equally”, but it doesn’t mean that everyone gets the same result. Achieving equality isn’t just about treating everybody the same. It’s also about respecting how we’re different.

Some people might have different needs and require different support than others just to get the same rights. For example, when children in wheelchairs use ramps so that everyone can access school.

Some people think this doesn’t go far enough in achieving equality. Instead, there should be no ramp or stairs; schools should be built in a way that everyone can enter easily.

Bahir’s story

“My name is Bahir. I am eight years old and I am from Syria. I’ve been having a hard time in school since I moved here. I can’t always understand what my teacher says and the other children make fun of me because I look different. They say I’m not allowed to play soccer with them at lunch time. This is discrimination and it means I don’t get my right to education, my right to play, or my right to develop my talents and abilities.“

Charlie’s story

“Hi, I’m Charlie. I’m trans and I found out recently I am autistic. My school doesn’t have any sensory rooms and I’m finding classes really overwhelming without one. It’s also hard because I’m the only trans person in my class and we don’t learn a lot about people like me. When we are doing activities, the teacher splits us up into girls and boys. I don’t know where I fit and I feel like something’s wrong with me. I’ve stopped coming to school as much.
I went to the doctor to talk about how hard it’s been, but they didn’t know a lot about LGBT+ people, so they didn’t get it. I’m on a really long waiting list to get more mental health support.
This is discrimination. It’s affecting my right to healthcare and education.“

Darren’s story

“I’m Darren and I’m from the north inner city in Dublin. Whenever, I’m hanging out with my friends, people look at us like they don’t trust us, just cos of where we’re from. Like we’re up to trouble. The guards usually stop us. They’ll always check my backpack to see if I have alcohol, even though they never look in my white mates’ bags.”

Find out what you can do when you’re not getting your rights.