Child Abuse: Safeguarding Children, Acts, Types, and Actions Report

This report provides a detailed analysis of child abuse and the legal frameworks designed to protect children, primarily focusing on the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004. It defines various types of child abuse, including physical, sexual, emotional, medical, and neglect, along with their potential effects on children, such as anxiety, depression, and academic problems. The report emphasizes the importance of reporting abuse, outlining appropriate actions and responses for practitioners and other relevant parties. It highlights the roles and responsibilities of practitioners in safeguarding children, including raising awareness, developing safer services, identifying risks, analyzing information, and working with parents to ensure child safety. The report underscores the significance of urgent medical attention and proper handling of child disclosures, referencing key research and literature to support its findings.

CHILD ABUSE
SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN

Children Act 1989
• This act provides the framework that is legislative in nature for the protection of
children in England.
• The key or vital principles that is included in the act are as follows:
• The paramount nature related to the welfare of the child
• The requirements and expectations around the existing duties related to the care
of the children.

Children Act 2004
• It refines and strengthen the Children Act
established in the year 1989 Act.
• This further helps in encouraging the
partnership between the existing
agencies and further creating more
accountability.
• It helps in promoting the well-being s of
the children and the young people.
• Arrangements are made to promote and
safeguard child’s welfare.

Types, signs and symptoms:
• Child abuse is caused when
someone harms a child body
both physically and mentally;
• This creates a negative impact
on the child’s health, body well-
being and their development
(Widom, Czaja and Dutton 2014).

Physical abuse:
• This means when someone hurts a
child body, any kind of harm is
abuse, this includes the following:
• Burning a child.
• Bites or hit kicks.
• Throwing object at the child.
• Holding child under water
• Tying up the child.

Sexual abuse
• This involves activities like oral-genetical
contact.
• Being involved in the sexual activities of
adults
• Being touched or talked to in sexually
explicit ways either directly or indirectly
• Exposure to child pornography or
intercourse (Horwath and Tarr 2015)

Emotional abuse:
• This may affect the injuring the self-
esteem for child's and emotional well
beings.
• It also includes emotional and verbal
assaults.
• Such as ignoring, isolating or
rejecting a child.

Medical abuse:
• This makes also the child very sick
that requires medical attention
(Herber et al. 2016).
• Mental disorder such as requiring
adequate food, affection, education
or medical care and supervision.

Neglect:
• This includes failure to provide proper
shelter, affection education, towards the
supervision, medical and educational
care.
• This also involves failing to meet child's
basic psychological needs
• Not providing sufficient food and shelter.
• Inadequate protection from danger.
• Not adequate medical care.

Effects of child abuse
Children's are at huge
risks due to abuse.
The effects include:
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Academic problems
• Fearful.

Appropriate actions and responses
• It is important to report about the abused child.
• Continue to talk to the child affected
• Talking to child teacher
• Getting someone's perspectives

Responsibilities and roles of
practitioners
• To promote and
safeguard the children
is every organization
responsibility.
• Improving children
understanding of risks.
(Klevens et al. 2014)

Roles of Practitioners
• Raising public awareness related
to the potential risks for children
and young people.
• Developing safer services as well
as opportunities related to
employment. While those coming
across children.

Implementing strategies
• Be alert to the risks imposed by
potential abusers.
• Share to analyze information for the
proper assessment of child's needs.
• Contribute to overall action needed
for safeguarding and promoting child
welfare.
• Working efficiently with parents to
ensures child safety.

Roles of practitioners
• Identifying the potential or
actual harm to the children.
• Analyzing concerns through
effective assessment
• Discussing the matters
concerning with managers
in supervision.

Urgent medical attention
• The child while suffering from the
injury must seek proper medical
attention from the accidents
(Macdonald 2016).
• The children social care should be
informed.
• Besides pediatricians and duty
consultant at the hospital.

Dealing with child disclosure
• Take the child seriously
• Take your time
• Let him/her speak
• Reassure that is alright to tell you (Dillon,Greenop and Hills 2016)
• Listen carefully
• Use open-ended questions
• Make a record of the details as soon as possible

Safeguarding children
• prevent impairment of children’s health or
development
• protect children from maltreatment.
• ensure that children grow up in situations
consistent with effective care and safety
(Hallett 2015)
• enable all children to have the best
outcomes.

Safeguarding…
• Prevent inappropriate individuals functioning with children
• Promote safe training and challenge ineffective and unsafe
practice (Parton 2016)
• Identify where there are grounds for concern about a child’s
welfare and take appropriate action

References
• Dillon, J., Greenop, D. and Hills, M., 2016. Participation in child protection: A small-scale qualitative study. Qualitative
Social Work, 15(1), pp.70-85.
• Hallett, S., 2015. ‘An Uncomfortable Comfortableness’:‘Care’, Child Protection and Child Sexual Exploitation. British
Journal of social work, 46(7), pp.2137-2152.
• Herbert, A., Gonzalez-Izquierdo, A., McGhee, J., Li, L. and Gilbert, R., 2016. Time-trends in rates of hospital admission of
adolescents for violent, self-inflicted or drug/alcohol-related injury in England and Scotland, 2005–11: population-based
analysis. Journal of Public Health, 39(1), pp.65-73.
• Horwath, J. and Tarr, S., 2015. Child visibility in cases of chronic neglect: Implications for social work practice. The British
Journal of Social Work, 45(5), pp.1379-1394.
• Klevens, J., Barnett, S.B.L., Florence, C. and Moore, D., 2015. Exploring policies for the reduction of child physical abuse
and neglect. Child abuse & neglect, 40, pp.1-11.
• Macdonald, G.S., 2016. Domestic Violence and Private Family Court Proceedings: Promoting Child Welfare or Promoting
Contact?. Violence against women, 22(7), pp.832-852.
• Parton, N., 2016. The Contemporary Politics of Child Protection: Part Two (the BASPCAN Founder's Lecture 2015). Child
Abuse Review, 25(1), pp.9-16.
• Widom, C.S., Czaja, S. and Dutton, M.A., 2014. Child abuse and neglect and intimate partner violence victimization and
perpetration: A prospective investigation. Child abuse & neglect, 38(4), pp.650-663.

THANK YOU