Since 2014 British army trainees aged under 18 at the Army Foundation College (AFC) in Harrogate have suffered an ingrained culture of abuse by instructors, as well as endemic bullying among recruits themselves. CRIN’s new chronological report highlights every known account of abuse at AFC between 2014 and 2024 - drawing on official data, national media reports, court judgments and the testimonies of former recruits and their parents.
Read MoreOur new report reveals that veterans aged 16-19 have been three times as likely as same-age civilians from socially deprived backgrounds to end their lives. We look at why early enlistment heightens risk of mental ill-health.
Read MoreRecognising the disproportionate impact of the UK government’s Prevent strategy on how Muslim children and children of Asian ethnicity are able to access their civil and political rights, the The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child have called for an immediate end to the targeting of specific groups of children by counter-terrorism measures.
Read MoreThe UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has called on the UK government to raise the minimum age of military recruitment from 16 to 18 and to address numerous complaints of the sexual assault, rape and abuse of young recruits.
Read MoreA story published by Vice exposes the scale of bullying, abuse and sexual assault in British armed forces training, with the youngest recruits, and especially young women, some of the worst impacted. One of the veterans speaking out in the article is Joe, who joined the Army Foundation College in 2013 aged 16. Read his full story here. [Content warning: descriptions of abuse and sexual assault].
Read MoreThree parents have today spoken out about the treatment their children experienced as recruits at the Army Foundation College. CRIN has written an open letter to Ofsted, challenging the College’s ‘Outstanding’ grade in the face of abuse allegations.
Read MoreNew data obtained by CRIN reveals a sharp increase in reports of sexual violence against girls in the UK armed forces.
Read MoreA creative response fusing poetry, animation and sound, to encourage critical thinking about the military recruitment of young people in relation to human rights. Should the armed forces recruit children under the age of 18? You decide...
Read MoreTwenty major children’s and human rights organisations have written to the UK government today, calling for an end to the recruitment of children by the UK armed forces.
Read MoreThe British army is intentionally targeting young people from deprived backgrounds for the roles carrying the greatest risks in war. This new report examines the targeting of these children and the effects of this practice on the 16 and 17 year-olds who are recruited.
Read MoreThe UK is the only major military power and the only State in Europe to enlist 16-year-olds into its armed forces. Following the closure of Child Soldiers International, the campaign to raise the UK’s military enlistment age to 18 will move to the Child Rights International Network (CRIN).
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