Labor Efforts to Promote Safeguarding of Children in the UK - Essay Example

Lecturer Critical Analysis of the Labor and Coalition Governments Efforts to Promote Safeguarding of Children in the United Kingdom As a human being, a child has got rights and freedoms which are provided and guaranteed by the constitution. These include right to a registered name; right to live; right to education; right to food; right to parental care and love; right to religion; right to be heard; right to quality medical care; and right to be protected from any form of child abuse (Beatson, 2008). These are fundamental rights which all the children should be given. They are recognized by the United Nations Children Rights since they are part of the Human Rights (Jeff, 2003). This paper discusses about the commitments of the Labor and Coalition governments towards the safeguarding of vulnerable children in UK. It does this by critically analyzing various laws which were enacted and periodically amended to ensure that there are no cases of child abuse in the country. The paper also goes ahead to evaluate how effective these legislations were and the extent to which they safeguarded children. According to the latest statistics from the police department, there were a total of 21,493 reported cases of child sexual abuse offences in 2011/12. In England alone, the figures for child rapes were estimated at 4,991 during the same period (Owen, 2007). However, the total number of rape cases and rape attempts in Scotland stood at 505 during the same period. Based on this statistics, Scotland seems to be having the highest number of sexual offenses as compared to other regions such as Wales, Northern Ireland and England. This might be attributed to inefficient policy implementations and inability of the parents, guardians and child care givers to create adequate time to provide children with the necessary protection. Its sexual offenses rates are 3.3 cases out of every 1,000 children under the age of 16. In Northern Ireland, it stands at 2.5 persons per every 1,000 children under the age of 18. Moreover, in Wales and England, only 1.6 cases are recorded for every 1,000 children under the age of 16 (Jeff, 2003). The above analysis clearly indicates that child abuse is still a major issue of concern in the UK. Although the statistics is about sexual abuses, a lot of cases have been witnessed in which several children have been physically abused and neglected by their parents and care givers. It is for this reason that such children have been offered safeguarding services such as child line, frank line, guidance and counseling by different bodies and agencies in the nation (Turton, 2008). It is only through the provision of safeguard services that the vulnerable children can be provided with safer places in which they would be protected from further abuses and be given a conducive environment in which they can comfortably grow and get access to education, counseling, individual attention, religious and health care services. Just like any other country, the UK is greatly concerned about the safety and welfare of children. Despite the persistence in child abuses, several legislations have been enacted to help in addressing it. Although there is no single legislation which handles children protection in the UK, there are numerous guidance and laws that are used to cover it. However, it is such laws which are frequently revoked, amended or up dated whenever need arises. Each of these is aimed at ensuring that the child’s physical emotional and psychological satisfaction is guaranteed (Owen, 2007). This is necessary for their sound growth and development as they become full citizens who are proud to associate with their nation.These laws are amended by a series of new legislations that are procedurally passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly, Welsh Assembly Government, Westminster and the Scottish Parliament. These are the institutions which are charged with the mandate of amending the child laws as need arises. To begin with, this paper points out that the first major step towards the formulation of child abuse and safeguard laws have been playing a very significant role in the UK. Any kind of maltreatment done to the children is always declared unlawful. Hence, whenever a person is convicted of subjecting children to abuses, they would be liable for prosecution before the court of law (Harries et al., 2008). The government has been concerned about creating a cruelty-free environment for all the children regardless of their social, economic, religious and political background. Further more, any vulnerable child is safeguarded and given the necessary protection from further abuses (Craig, P. et al., 2007). Amongst the major legislations were made in 1908, the Children Act was enacted to outlaw children from engaging in employment activities which was not deemed appropriate for their age. A part from advocating for the creation of juvenile courts and a mandatory registration of foster parents, the act committed itself to safeguarding children from further abuses. It prevented them from engaging in dangerous and risky trading activities, buying of cigarettes and entering the bars and pubs (Herrenkohl, 2005). Instead, it mandated the local authorities to keep children from poor families out of the workhouse so as to effectively protect them from any abuses. Moreover, the act led to the establishment of the orphanages, Borstals and social services to provide further protection from rampant abuses especially for the incarcerated children. This benefited the children who might have been abused by employers who were only concerned about profit making, but not their safety and welfare (Beckett, 2007). As time went by, several legislations were made to provide further protection to children from abuses. These include the Children and Young Persons Act of 1933 which prevented the minors from indiscriminate employment; Children Act of 1989; After Children Act of 1989; Children Act of 2004 and the After Children Act of 2004. Each of these clearly spelt out measures on how child abuse practices should be eradicated from the society. At the same time, they were amendments which were made in reaction to various child abuse cases which had been happening in the country at different times in history (Bradley & Ewing, 2007). For instance, the Children Act of 2004 which was essentially an amendment of the Children Act of 1989 which came into existence after the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry which was set up to investigate the brutal murder of Victoria Climbié who had succumbed to the beatings she received from the abuses from beatings with wires, hammers, tied for 24 hours and compelled to sleep in the bath. Because of this, the government replaced the Children Act of 1989 with the 2004 version which spelt out that the local authorities (Local Director of Children’s Services) would be given powers to provide children with the protection, health care, education and welfare. Besides, it stipulated that there was to be the establishment of Contact Point Database in which the information about all the children under the age of 18 years would be fed and availed for everyone to access (Lansdown, 2002). Hence, it would be much easier to monitor the movement of all the children whose records had been captured. Labor Government and the Child Abuse and Safeguard Laws In the history of UK, each and subsequent regime has to come up with policies and legislations to safeguard the welfare of children in the country. As already highlighted, child abuse has persisted regardless of the efforts to eradicate it. Therefore, during the 1997-200 Labor regimes, the following legislations were made in the effort to protect the children from abuses: In 1998, the Public Interest Disclosure Act was passed by the parliament to help in protecting the children from abuses. Under this act, the whistleblowers who were willing and ready to reveal any information about their employers who had been abusing children would be protected by the state (Kaslow, 2006). This act was very important in the UK as it increased the chances of providing more information to the public concerning the welfare of children who might have been subjected to abusive acts within the country. It greatly impacted in the country as it helped in ensuring that no more children are engaged in unlawful employment or exploited in their places of work. It made it easier for them to be contributing towards the abuse of children in the workplace (Finkelhor, 2008). It was indeed, a major step in the safeguarding of children during this regime. Later, in the same year, the parliament passed the Human Rights Act which after receiving a royal assent in 1998, was adopted in 2000. As part of the European Convention on Human Rights, the act committed itself to protecting the rights of children from any maltreatment. This was part of the international law which was aimed at protecting the rights of children which was used in the entire Europe to justify their initiative towards the welfare. It was of much importance because it was a sign of commitment by the Labor government towards this course. In 1999, the Protection of Children Act of 1999 which had been published in 19997 was signed by the Queen then enforced. It protected the abuse of children especially sexual exploitation. This act was of great importance in UK. It made it much possible for the government to protect children from abuses which might have arose from the adults who were interested in sexually abusing them. it was indeed timely since such evil acts were popular during the time of its enforcement. Protection of Children Act of 1999 was backed by the Sexual Offenses (Amendment) Act of 2000 which also strongly ruled against sexual abuse of children. According to this amendment, sexual engagement with a person under the age of 18 would be considered illegal. At the same time, children under that age bracket were barred from participating in homosexuality which was viewed as abusive to them (McCutcheon, 2010). The other significant step by the Labor government to protect children from abuse was made in 2000 when the position of Children’s Commissioner was established to help in overseeing the safeguarding of children. This came after the implementations of Sir Ronald Waterhouse Commission which was investigating the sexual and physical abuses of children in various home cares in Whales This is a clear indication that the Labor regime was very much concerned about the welfare of children. Even if most of the amendments were made after the occurrence of abuses, they were a clear demonstration that the government was responsive and responsible. Having recognized that children are a major component of the society, deliberate efforts were taken to ensure that they are protected from any form of abuse that would negatively affect them. Apart from passing several acts of parliament, the government ensured that it conformed to the international human right standards. For instance, in the year 2000, it signed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in which several commitments were made to safeguard the welfare of children, protect them from abuses and provide them with all the basic, safety, educational and health care needs necessary for their healthy upbringing (Lansdown, 2002). This made a lot of impacts on the vulnerable children whose lives might have been endangered had such initiatives not been taken. However, this as not only restricted to UK as it was applied in the entire globe. However, the labor government was criticized for demanding for the figure prints from the children. It was viewed to be in a contravention of individual liberty rights. Conservative and Liberal Democrats Coalition and Child Safeguarding Efforts After coming to power in 2010, the Conservative and Liberal Democrats Coalition inherited a society in which child abuse was still a menace. Despite the fact that several efforts had been taken by the preceding regimes to curb it, a lot of commitments still had to be done since it remained a major challenge. Several cases of child battering, sexual abuse and neglect were still in the rise. Therefore, the new coalition government had to come up and enact legislations to help in addressing the problem. Since its rise to power this regime has made the following efforts as far as this issue is concerned: The efforts of the coalition government have been evidenced on several occasions. It has indeed continued to make amendments and enact legislations to fight against child abuse. In 2010, the government published and enforced the Working Together to Safeguard Children (2010) which was used as a guideline to the personnel and parties involved in the safeguarding of children. It specifically came into force after the release of the Lord Lamings Report of 2008which was investigating on how effectively the government could regulate the safeguarding of children in UK. This act clearly spelt out the manner in which professionals would handle safeguarded children. This legislation was of a great importance because it demonstrated the commitments of the Coalition government towards the safeguarding of children in England. As a result of providing a detailed guideline for the involved parties, the welfare of the children was keenly looked at. Therefore, children were not only offered protection, but given other necessary services such as education and health care (Munro, 2008). In 2011, the government took initiative to make further amendments to the Working Together to Safeguard Children Act (Bradley & Ewing, 2007). This came after the completion of Munro Review of Child Protection which had been charged with the mandate of investigating the welfare of safeguarded children by the Secretary of State for Education in 2010. According to the commission’s recommendations published in its second report dubbed the Child’s Journey, it was found out that the professionals involved in the safeguarding of children were not doing their job to the perfection (Crosson-Tower, 2008). Hence, it recommended the integration of the process and inclusion of variety of professionals including teachers, health care providers, social workers and child protection agencies. Because of these recommendations, the government revised the Working Together to Safeguard Children meet the required standards. This greatly impacted on child protection in the country (Korbin, 2003). A part from professionalizing the exercise, it made the safeguarding personnel to improve their services to the vulnerable children. Since not everyone could handle the children, the experts became more committed to their work and treated children as individuals with diverse special needs to be met at all times. This was later perfected in 2013 when the law was further revised to meet the changing trends in the society. These legislations were quite essential in protecting the children from abuse and improving their safety. They were of a great benefit to the children in UK and the larger European Union which borrowed a leaf from the country. In conclusion, children have fundamental rights provided to them by the government. These include right to life, conscience, education, medical care, parental love and freedom from abuse, exploitation, neglect and harassment. These are supposed to be protected in the country. However, in UK, there have been cases of child abuse which has compelled the government to enact laws, form commissions of inquiries and implement their recommendations by making constitutional amendments. Of particular interest, both the Labor and Coalition governments have made tremendous successes towards the safeguarding of children in UK. Their initiatives have not only impacted in the country, but have also influenced other countries including Whales, Scotland and other countries within the European Union. Bibliography Beatson, J. (2008). Constitutional reform in the United Kingdom: practice and principles. London: Hart Publishing. Beckett, C. (2007). Child Protection: An Introduction. SAGE Barnett, H. (2005). Constitutional and Administrative Law (5 Ed.). London: Cavendish. Bradley, A.W. & Ewing, K.D. (2007) Constitutional and Administrative Law. London: Pearson. Craig, P. et al. (2007). EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials (4th Ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. 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