{"id":7290,"date":"2023-10-26T10:03:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T10:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/?p=7290"},"modified":"2023-10-26T10:03:57","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T10:03:57","slug":"should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Should \u2018care experience\u2019 be given protection in law?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Earlier this year, the Children\u2019s Commissioner launched a survey asking all care experienced individuals to share their views on whether care experience should be made a protected characteristic. Have your say!&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Children\u2019s Commissioner wants to hear as many of you as possible whether you think care experience should be a protected characteristic, you can share your views and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartsurvey.co.uk\/s\/care_experience_protected_characteristic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">take part here<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>At the moment it is against the law to discriminate against anyone because of the following protected characteristics:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>age&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>gender reassignment&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>being married or in a civil partnership&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>being pregnant or on maternity leave&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>disability&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>religion or belief&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>sex&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>sexual orientation&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You can read more about what a protected characteristic is and your rights <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/discrimination-your-rights\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If &#8216;care experience&#8217; was made a protected characteristic under the Equality Act, people who are in or have been in care would have the same legal protection against discrimination as the other listed characteristics.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of now, we have received a great response, and a wide range of points have been made.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of the arguments in favour from responses so far include: that care experience has a life-long impact, that it could bring change and give care experienced people a voice, and it could prevent discrimination, spark conversations and empower people who have experienced discrimination or trauma. One care experienced person wrote:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>I have experienced a lot of discrimination as someone who is care experienced. There is a negative stigma and judgement. I\u2019ve even experienced this in my role as professional &amp; in the past it\u2019s made me feel I have to be quiet like I should be ashamed of my care experience. At work there\u2019s been incidences where I\u2019ve been treated differently.<\/p>\n<cite>Anonymous care experienced person <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of the arguments against care experience becoming a protected characteristic in responses so far include: it could result in more discrimination and stigmatisation, that being in care is a positive rather than a negative, and that people want separation from being care experienced. Other points made so far include the idea that the system should be improved rather than politicised, that people might feel pressured to reveal their experiences in care, and that discrimination by existing protected characteristics is still prevalent. One person wrote:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>For some young people I believe this may be beneficial, however, many of the looked after children I have worked with (and indeed fostered myself) would see this as a negative acknowledgement of their disadvantage &#8211; not only in terms of stigma but also a self-fulfilling prophecy which may prohibit their achievement of their full potential.<\/p>\n<cite>Anonymous care experienced person <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Some people responded \u2018I don\u2019t know\u2019 when asked whether care experience should be a protected characteristic and providing their reasoning for this, for example, one person wrote:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>On the one hand I think it could potentially open up a number of opportunities for those with care experience, which could be really positive. On the other hand, I worry that some may feel further stigmatised by having a continued label in relation to &#8216;care&#8217; which often some want to move away from.<\/p>\n<cite>Anonymous care experienced person <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>What do you think? The Children\u2019s Commissioner wants to hear as many of you as possible to ensure your voices are part of the discussion. You can share your views and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartsurvey.co.uk\/s\/care_experience_protected_characteristic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">take part here<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have your say, your voice matters!&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this year, the Children\u2019s Commissioner launched a survey asking all care experienced individuals to share their views on whether care experience should be made a protected characteristic. Have your say!&nbsp; The Children\u2019s Commissioner wants to hear as many of you as possible whether you think care experience should be a protected characteristic, you can [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":7299,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[106],"tags":[11,21,50,38,69,22,154,153,23,6],"class_list":["post-7290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-opportunities","tag-advice","tag-being-in-care","tag-care-experienced","tag-care-leaver","tag-cep","tag-leaving-care","tag-protected-characteristic","tag-protected-charecteristics","tag-real-life-stories","tag-wellbeing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<title>Should \u2018care experience\u2019 be given protection in law?\u00a0 - IMO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Earlier this year, the Children\u2019s Commissioner launched a survey asking all care experienced individuals to share their views on whether care experience should be made a protected characteristic. Have your say!\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Should \u2018care experience\u2019 be given protection in law?\u00a0 - IMO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Earlier this year, the Children\u2019s Commissioner launched a survey asking all care experienced individuals to share their views on whether care experience should be made a protected characteristic. Have your say!\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"In My Opinion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-26T10:03:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-26T10:03:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/63.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hannah Cox\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/other-opportunities\\\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/other-opportunities\\\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hannah Cox\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1c4e73e6ec7c3805267e1713aef26e4f\"},\"headline\":\"Should \u2018care experience\u2019 be given protection in law?\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-26T10:03:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-26T10:03:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/other-opportunities\\\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":599,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/other-opportunities\\\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/wpuploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/63.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"advice\",\"being in care\",\"care experienced\",\"care leaver\",\"cep\",\"leaving care\",\"protected characteristic\",\"protected charecteristics\",\"real life stories\",\"wellbeing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Other opportunities\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/other-opportunities\\\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/other-opportunities\\\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/other-opportunities\\\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\\\/\",\"name\":\"Should \u2018care experience\u2019 be given protection in law?\u00a0 - IMO\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/other-opportunities\\\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/other-opportunities\\\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/wpuploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/63.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-26T10:03:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-26T10:03:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1c4e73e6ec7c3805267e1713aef26e4f\"},\"description\":\"Earlier this year, the Children\u2019s Commissioner launched a survey asking all care experienced individuals to share their views on whether care experience should be made a protected characteristic. Have your say!\u00a0\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/other-opportunities\\\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/other-opportunities\\\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/wpuploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/63.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/wpuploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/63.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/\",\"name\":\"IMO\",\"description\":\"IMO is a voice for teenagers in care and for care leavers. Somewhere you can share stories, experiences and achievements, get and give advice, and find loads of great free stuff!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\\\/imo\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Should \u2018care experience\u2019 be given protection in law?\u00a0 - IMO","description":"Earlier this year, the Children\u2019s Commissioner launched a survey asking all care experienced individuals to share their views on whether care experience should be made a protected characteristic. Have your say!\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Should \u2018care experience\u2019 be given protection in law?\u00a0 - IMO","og_description":"Earlier this year, the Children\u2019s Commissioner launched a survey asking all care experienced individuals to share their views on whether care experience should be made a protected characteristic. Have your say!\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/","og_site_name":"In My Opinion","article_published_time":"2023-10-26T10:03:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-26T10:03:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/63.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hannah Cox","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/"},"author":{"name":"Hannah Cox","@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/#\/schema\/person\/1c4e73e6ec7c3805267e1713aef26e4f"},"headline":"Should \u2018care experience\u2019 be given protection in law?\u00a0","datePublished":"2023-10-26T10:03:53+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-26T10:03:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/"},"wordCount":599,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/63.jpg","keywords":["advice","being in care","care experienced","care leaver","cep","leaving care","protected characteristic","protected charecteristics","real life stories","wellbeing"],"articleSection":["Other opportunities"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/","url":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/","name":"Should \u2018care experience\u2019 be given protection in law?\u00a0 - IMO","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/63.jpg","datePublished":"2023-10-26T10:03:53+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-26T10:03:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/#\/schema\/person\/1c4e73e6ec7c3805267e1713aef26e4f"},"description":"Earlier this year, the Children\u2019s Commissioner launched a survey asking all care experienced individuals to share their views on whether care experience should be made a protected characteristic. Have your say!\u00a0","inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/other-opportunities\/should-care-experience-be-given-protection-in-law\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/63.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/assets.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/wpuploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/63.jpg","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/","name":"IMO","description":"IMO is a voice for teenagers in care and for care leavers. Somewhere you can share stories, experiences and achievements, get and give advice, and find loads of great free stuff!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7290"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7301,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7290\/revisions\/7301"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}