Strengthening safeguarding

We know that abuse can be experienced by any child or within any family, and we must always be mindful of this in our work with children and young people.

Abuse of children and young people is defined as the act of harm against that child or young person and can include a range of traumatic experiences including physical, emotional, sexual abuse, as well as neglectful experiences (such as lack of meeting children and young people’s needs for food, warmth, attention, supervision) and safeguarding concerns such as grooming or radicalisation.

Additionally, safeguarding and child protection concerns can also be seen in children and young people who may be at increased risk or vulnerability due to other factors; these can include living in an impoverished home, experiencing financial hardship within the family, witnessing domestic violence or having parents with mental health challenges or who engage in drug abuse, being a child within the looked after system or one from an ethnic minority group. Knowing how to identify these vulnerable children and young people can help put into place early interventions to better support children and young people and their families and help minimise the impact of trauma and abuse.

It is important that we are aware of possible signs that may indicate a child or young person is being abused. Irrespective of our job title, if we are concerned about the safety and wellbeing of a child or young person, it is our responsibility to act and seek help and support for them.

The NSPCC in the UK identifies potential signs in children and young people that may indicate a child is being abused. These include:

• Being afraid of particular places or making excuses to avoid particular people
• Knowing about or being involved in ‘adult issues’ which are inappropriate for their age or stage of development, for example, alcohol, drugs and/or sexual behaviour
• Having angry outbursts or behaving aggressively towards others
• Becoming withdrawn or appearing anxious, clingy or depressed
• Self-harming or having thoughts about suicide
• Showing changes in eating habits or developing eating disorders
• Regularly experiencing nightmares or sleep problems
• Regularly wetting the bed or soiling their clothes
• Running away or regularly going missing from home or care
• Not receiving adequate medical attention after injuries.

It is important to recognise that these signs do not necessarily mean that a child is being abused as there are other reasons why a child or young person might be showing these behaviours. But if you recognise some of these signs and have concerns about a child or young person’s safety and wellbeing, you should promptly follow your organisation’s safeguarding and child protection procedures.

During conversations where a child or young person discloses a safeguarding concern to you, listen carefully and record if you can verbatim what is being said. Generally try not to ask questions that could be seen as probing or leading, instead focus on asking appropriate questions only if needed to help clarify and understand what is being shared with you. It is very likely not to be your role to complete a safeguarding assessment, your role as a non-mental health specialist is to identify a potentially safeguarding issue with a child or young person and to raise this concern promptly with the appropriate people or services to consider and action.

References

Definitions and Signs of Abuse Briefing, NSPCC, 2020

You can also find out more by visiting the resources at the end of this week.