Benefits of Increased Knowledge and Awareness of Child Abuse - Essay Example

Safeguarding Children Task Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….2 Benefits of increased knowledge and awareness of child abuse…………………………….…….5 Recent Statistics and Research of Child Abuse Cases in the United Kingdom…………………..6 Who should take the Forefront in Safeguarding Children?.............................................................7 Is Child Protection Everybody’s Business?.....................................................................................8 Policies and Legislations on Child Abuse and Protection in the UK……………………………10 Current Legislation, Guidelines, Policies and Procedures for Safeguarding Children………….11 Case Study of Child Abuse in the United Kingdom………………………………………….…13 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………15 References………………………………………………………………………………………16 Safeguarding Children Introduction Children form the most precious component of the modern day population, as well as, give assurance and guarantee over the future and growth of a nation. As such, it is imperative to safeguard all the children within our societies. As Laming 2003 puts it, safeguarding children is the sole priority of every member of the society, and as such, all grownups have the responsibility to safeguard children from abuse of any kind of violence. Every child in the community regardless of their ethnicity, color, age religion, gender or race can face child abuse, or violence, or come to some harm. Therefore, most national governments come up with necessary polices to ensure safeguarding and protection of children, such as protecting them from maltreatment and malnutrition, preventing their health impairment, and acting in a manner that promotes their welfare (Airey, Backett-Milburn, Hogg & McKie, 2008). The United Kingdom has some of the traumatizing cases of child abuse in the world. Some grotesque statistics about child abuse within our communities, which stamp on the necessity of every member of the community to take part in the role of safeguarding children, include one of ten children being a victim of neglect. One in every five children was a victim of sexual abuse, serious physical abuse, domestic violence, or severe emotional neglect. The UK police in 2011/12 alone recorded 21,493 cases of sexual offenders against children. One child dies on a weekly basis in the hands of another person in the UK (Andrew & Susanne, 2006). The country has more than 91,000 children under special care as of 2012, which is a dismal percentage of the total number of children that need protection safeguarding as for every one child protected, eight other children remain in precarious conditions. The above is just a snippet view of the degree of suffering that children undergo in the United Kingdom (Baldwin & Nelson, 2004). For this reason, the government of England took necessary steps and measures to safeguard and protect its children through passing policies and legislations that protect and safeguard the rights of children within the society. This law stipulates that every person who is a grown up or considered mature by law has the responsibility of protecting and safeguarding every child that works or lives with them, such as their children, their nephews and nieces, or street children. This law appears under “The Children Act of 1989 and 2004”. Furthermore, this law also features the “UN Convention on the Rights of the Child”, whereby the United Kingdom is a signatory. The UK government enforces these laws in order to protect the rights of children in their communities, as well as, protecting them from any kind of abuse. Child protection is different from safeguarding children but still forms part of promotion of children’s welfare and their safeguarding. As such, child protection refers to any activity undertaken to safeguard and protect specific children who are already in suffering, or stand a high likelihood of suffering due to their present conditions, or come to significant harm. This could involve an individual’s responsibility or a communal responsibility depending on the level of care and protection within a given community setting. Such children in vulnerable conditions that need immediate attention and care include orphaned children, children with irresponsible parents such as drunkards and prostitutes, street children, and children living in unstable families such as those experiencing frequent cases of domestic violence (Burstro, Canvin, Jones, Martilla & Whitehead, 2007). Benefits of Increased Knowledge and Awareness of Child Abuse The increased knowledge of child abuse among professionals goes a long way in ensuring that children within the society remain safe and protected. A recent research carried out on professionals, especially those in the nursing and medical field reports that nearly half of the participants witnessed a case of child sexual abuse. A further breakdown of this study provides that almost 15% of these participants experienced in person a case or event of sexual abuse or molestation, or any other form of child abuse and harassment. Only twenty percent of the participants reported to have missed or lacked knowledge and experience of any case of child abuse during their lifetime. As such, almost 80% of the participants concurred that they witnessed or had knowledge about a case of child abuse during their lifetime (Collicott, Holland & Tannock, 2011). These statistics goes to show that the people tasked with the duty and responsibility of attending to children have personal experience about the same, and as such, are the best in dealing with such cases of child abuse and molestation. The increased knowledge of child abuse among professionals is a positive step towards safeguarding and protecting the rights of children within our societies. These professionals know the best ways to attend to children who require immediate assistance and protection, and have a keen eye in noticing cases of child abuse within the society (Coutler, Durfee & Peterson, 2003). Therefore, they can always intervene in any evident case of child harassment that they come across, at their places of work, at their places of residence, or in the streets and communities where they live, and stop these cases before the explode into much serious acts of child abuse. On the other hand, the increased awareness of child abuse within the wider society will also help in reducing the cases of child abuse in significant levels. In some previous cases where the society could not discern child abuse from discipline, a neighbor would watch his or her next-door neighbor flog his or her child daily on grounds of laziness or theft, and still look the other side instead of rescuing the child. Nowadays, the case is very different. A parent cannot dish out uncouth punishment on his or her children in the pretext of maintaining discipline. Much as the adage “Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child” holds, it is also imperative to note that when the rod breaks, the child breaks too due to severe physical abuse. The community now takes charge of protecting all the children in its midst, and as such, report any cases of child abuse to the relevant authorities, or take personal action in protecting the rights and privileges of a child (Department of Health, 2003). Some of the common cases of child abuse and harassment witnessed within social neighborhoods and residential places include child trafficking, child labor, sexual harassment and molestation, as well as, domestic violence (Durham, 2003). The church also steps in with an affirmative role in protecting children through the formation of rescue centers such as orphanages and children homes where they keep children who do not have guardians or parents to attend to them, such as the orphaned. Some of these centers carry out adoption processes in order to get these children to foster homes where they can experience the love and joy of living in a real family, such as the unconditional love and care from both parents. Recent Statistics and Research of Child Abuse Cases in the United Kingdom NSPCC is an organization based in the UK that carries out investigations and details statistics of child abuse cases within the country. This is true to its motto, which reads: “Child Abuse must stop. Full Stop.” This means that the chief and main goal of this organization is to eradicate completely every case of child abuse in the country, because a child is a minor and in most cases, lacks the means and ability to protect themselves from any form of abuse. The common topics dealt with by this organization on child abuse and harassment within the UK community are bullying, especially in schools and other learning institutions, disabled children, child homicides, neglect, looked after children, online safety of children, domestic abuse, non-accidental head injuries among infants, minority ethnic children, and physical abuse. Other areas of scrutiny include safer recruitment, as well as new fields of sexual abuse and child trafficking (Elliott & Frean, 2008). As such, the NSPCC details the figures and facts about child abuse in the UK, statistics that are free to air in the press and media for common awareness and knowledge of the public. These detailed statistics include over 23,000 cases recorded by the police department of sexual offenders against minors less than eighteen years in a period of one year ending March 2013. Over 34% of these children who experienced sexual molestation from an adult did not speak a word to anyone about it, while eighty-seven percent of these children who experienced molestation from their peers similarly kept mum over the whole incident. These cases just go to outline how dangerous and wild the society acts against children within its midst, who simply yearn for their protection and love rather than abuse and violence (Gracia & Herrero, 2006). Who should take the Forefront in Safeguarding Children? Parents shoulder the greatest responsibility in the safeguarding and protection of the children, especially their own. This is majorly due to the decreased willingness of other adults to engage in the protection of children from other parents. As such, each parent concentrates on taking care of his o her children without much of external interference on how these parents treat their children such as from nosy neighbors and community elders. In fact, this forms on of the reasons why the welfare of children in the United Kingdom is low because the society singles out the task of watching children to the parents alone unlike in other countries (Hendrick, 2011). For instance, in most African societies, the child belongs to the community and as such, every adult member of the community takes charge of protecting and safeguarding these children from any kind of abuse or molestation, even from their biological parents. However, the Laming report changes this structure to incorporate the welfare of children as a communal responsibility of all the adults and elderly persons living with children. In addition, it requires that all persons in the community to pay particular attention to children and ensure they do not suffer oppression, discrimination, or persecution of any kind. Is Child Protection everybody’s Business? According to the Scottish government, as well as Her Majesty’s Government, the role of safeguarding and protecting children within our societies is the role of every member in the community, and not solely for parents. This is because some parents abuse their children knowingly because they feel they have a hold upon them, such as them being the ones who gave their children the gift of life. However, this still does not permit any parent to mistreat and abuse his or her children because. The UK government tasks every sensible adult with the duty to look after and protect the children and teenagers by voicing any concerns about their welfare and protection. This communal responsibility about child protection would ensure that all children in the country are safe, thus grow up in an environment that is serene, and calm peacefully (Hester & Radford, 2006). The Lord Laming once suggested that the society regarded the responsibility of child protection in a narrow perspective as the responsibility of specific statutory services. He added that the society, generally, has to take more interest in watching out for the welfare of all the children within their midst. As such, the report by Lord Laming led to radical changes within the organization and arrangement of children’s services within the United Kingdom. In addition, this led to the procurement of subsequent policy documents detailing the facts about safeguarding children, such as the “Green Paper Every Child Matters,” alongside other policy, guidance and legislation to reinforce the notion that the society bears the broad responsibility of protecting all children (Hill, Seaman, Stafford, Turner & Walker, 2005). Under specific policy initiatives, this new policy applies in specialist statutory services, community and voluntary groups, and universal services. However, the original ECM document still contains the aspiration that the government, families, public services, communities, businesses, voluntary organizations, and the media play a vital role in protecting children, valuing them, listening to their opinions and views, as well as, promoting their interests. Because of the implementation of this new law and policy on children, the state, as well as, the local community enhanced their vigilance on the children within their midst, and as such, took necessary steps in safeguarding and protecting them from abuse or harm. Everyone in the community is adopting the parental role of every child around him or her, and thus bears the responsibility of ensuring the child has all his or her rights and privileges. The rights that children must have in the community include the right to play, the right to study, the right to eat good food, the right to have good sleep, and the right to remain a child. As such, a child should get the treatment of a child and not that of a grown up (Jones & Wheelock, 2002). For instance, children should not work for money, as this is child labor. Children should not take care of other children, as this is not their responsibility. Children should not be parents to other children, as in the cases of early pregnancies and teenage promiscuity. The society thus bears the full responsibility of ensuring that every child is safe and grows into an able, responsible and mature adult. This communal responsibility on the safety of children is a phenomenal transformation from the former societal settings whereby the community did not take any initiative in protecting other people’s children, such as the children experiencing abuse and neglect in the hands of their biological parents (Oudenhoven & Wazir, 1998). These communities form a childcare network involving the parents, families, neighbors and friends that ensures a child is safe at all times. This gives room for adults to intervene as a sign of concern for the children of other people, especially if these children are undergoing any form of child abuse. These parents also intervene in order to correct these children by putting an end to their delinquency or misbehavior (Richardson & Williams, 2008). However, it is important to note that these children can come to a certain degree of harm if the role of child protection becomes everybody’s business in the community. This aspect of child protection has very many advantages, but this should not be enough to blind the community that all adults are good and have proper intentions and motives towards other people’s children. Some unscrupulous adults may take advantage of this provision to perpetrate their evil acts against children left under their care, such as child molestation and sexual abuse, or child labor, or child trafficking, or kidnapping the child and demanding for ransom from the real parents of the child. It is important for the community to single out these hooligans and ensure they do not have single custody of the child at any given time because they pose more risk than protection to the child (The Lord Laming, 2009). Policies and Legislations on Child Abuse and Protection in the UK The United Kingdom does not have a single piece of legislation covering child protection. On the contrary, it has countless number of guidance and laws dealing with the same topic, and undergoing continuous amendment, updates, as well as, revocation. These laws, inclusive of the one brought up by Lord Laming on the inclusion of the society in the responsibility of safeguarding children, work in their small capacities to protect all the children in the United Kingdom. This ensures proper maintenance and protection of all the rights, privileges and freedom of children such as the right to life, the right to education, and the right to be a child. Each law carries its own penalty in case of a breach, and each child has the authority to demand proper treatment, because of these laws, from their parents, teachers, guardians, peers, as well as other adults that they encounter within their social circles. The statutory laws and case laws are some of the numerous laws containing child protection rights. As such, any law amended through the passing of a new legislation by the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Westminster, and the Welsh Assembly government form part of the statutory laws. Furthermore, these laws have to undergo professional interpretation by judges and magistrates in the courts of law. The manner in which a court of law interprets a statutory law forms a case law. This interpretation can also have a causal effect to the amendment of a statutory law. The four nations that form part of the United Kingdom have their own laws that cover and protect children within their jurisdictions from abuse and violence because these laws do not cover all the geographical expanse of the United Kingdom comprising of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and England. In addition, the legal systems in each of these countries vary thereby eliminating the possibility of summing up the laws in one form (Wheeler, 2013). Apart from case laws and statutory laws safeguarding children in the United Kingdom, the country also has both criminal laws and civil laws charged with the same duty. Each legislation or statutory law, covering the protection of children falls into two broad categories of civil law and criminal law. The civil law has two further divisions of public law and private law. Under the public law, the civil law institutes systems and processes that minimize the risk of children coming into any form of harm. It also provides a layout of the proper procedures to undertake in the even the children come to risk. The private law, on the other hand, deals entirely with family proceedings such as contact and divorce. The second division of criminal law deals with offenders of children’s rights, or those just about to offend children. Nonetheless, while practicing these laws, some Acts may include provisions relating to both criminal and civil laws (Burstro, Canvin, Jones, Martilla & Whitehead, 2007). Current Legislation, Guidelines, Policies and Procedures for Safeguarding Children Among the numerous case laws, statutory laws, as well as, criminal and civil laws safeguarding the rights of children in the United Kingdom, there are specific laws and current legislations that look after the welfare of young people and children. A mention of some of these legislations includes the Children’s Act 1098/2004, the Education Act 2002, the E-Safety Act of 2008, the Human Rights Act, as well as, other Safeguarding Acts. All these policies and laws play a combined role of protecting and safeguarding children within the community of the United Kingdom, as well as, ensuring that these children do not come to any kind of harm, such as physical, emotional, sexual, or otherwise (The Lord Laming, 2009). The UK government approved the “United Nations Convention on Children’s Rights” on December 16, 1991 and upheld all its provisions. The UN Convention Act stipulated various measures of safeguarding children, such as their right to care, their right to express their views, their right to have a listening ear, and the right to receive protection from abuse. Furthermore, the convention also provides other services that children should have access to such as the services for disabled children and the services for children who live away from their homes. Even though this convention is not part of the United Kingdom’s laws, it acts largely as a guideline for the protection and safeguarding of children within the constituent UK countries, such as Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. The “Working Together in Safeguarding Children Act of 2010” is one of England’s current policy, procedure, and legislation in the protection of children. This policy provides specific guidelines for people dealing with children in the following department, the police, education, social services, health, and probation. As such, these guidelines provide much relevance to people working in a close proximity with children, as well as, with their families in independent, statutory and voluntary sectors. This document covers a vast expanse of the children’s rights, inclusive of a summary of the nature and impact of child neglect and child abuse, how to operate the best practices in procedures related to child protection, and the various roles and responsibilities assigned to different GP’s and agencies. Other provisions of this law are the roles of the locals safeguarding children’s boards, the processes to follow in case of a raised concern about a child, as well as, the actions to take in order to safeguard and promote the welfare of children experiencing harm, or those who are at the risk of significant harm. The report got a further upgrade in 2013 with a new legislation coming into play to improve on the older legislation. The Working Together in Safeguarding Children Act of 2013 streamlines the previous guidance documents in order to clarify the responsibilities that professionals shoulder in their duty of safeguarding children, as well as, strengthening their focus away from process and onto the needs of the child. As such, this new policy replaces the previous working together to safeguard children 2010 and creates a framework for the assessment of the children in need, as well as, their families. The act also provides statutory guidance on the procedures taken in making arrangements that will safeguard and promote the welfare of children under section 11 of the Children Act 2004 (2007). Nevertheless, most of the responsibilities and procedures outlines in the new 2013 Working Together Act remain the same as the guidance and provisions of the 2010 act, only that here the presentation is more succinct and less detailed. Case Studies of Child Abuse in the United Kingdom The Telegraph reports a case of the incarceration of the mother to Khyra Ishaq aged seven, along with her boyfriend who was also a convict. The case against these offenders of children’s rights was starving Ishaq, as well as, subjecting her to abuse for several months. On giving his ruling, the High Court judge pressed that Ishaq had high probabilities of survival from the torture and abuse meted by her mother if the Birmingham welfare officers acted promptly on the concerns reported to them and if proven take Ishaq away from her mother. This is an evident case that children are not safe from abuse and violence simply because they are in the hands of their parents. As such, it is necessary for everybody to make it his or her duty and responsibility to take care of the children within their midst. The death of baby Peter in August 2007 in the hands of adults is another grueling case of child abuse in the UK. Baby Peter was seventeen months old, barely a year and a half when he met his fate of death in the hands of his biological mother, Tracey Connelly, alongside her boyfriend, Steven parker, as well as, their lodger, Jason Owen. Baby Peter suffered over fifty injuries after undergoing several months of abuse from his closest family members. This is despite social workers visiting the baby at his home over sixty times and putting him on the “at risk” register. This is a case of a child dying in the hands of adults, who bear the sole responsibility of supporting and protecting them from harm. It is imperative from this case that concerned bodies and responsible adults should take prompt measures in case they witness any case of child abuse before it is too late. The case of baby Peter took 60 visits from a social worker to intervene but he still died from child abuse (Collicott, Holland & Tannock, 2011). A series of serious case reviews carried out in Doncaster Yorks unearthed seven cases of children’s deaths owing to suspected abuse and neglect. This has been going on for years since 2004 after a series of “basic” failings by schoolteachers, the NHS, as well as, the social services. For instance, Amy Howson who was sixteen months at the time of her death in December 2007 passed on after Doncaster authorities missed three key opportunities to save her. She died brutally after her spine snapped into two in what investigators to this day categorize as a “chilling and brutal” killing. Alfie Goddard died in the hands of his father in the same town five months later renowned for his history of mental health problems and violence owing to drugs abuse and heavy drinking. Ten separate agencies were unable to spot the warning signs showing the risky conditions of the 11-week old boy in abuse. A case of children perpetrating abuse against fellow children was in Edlington, South Yorkshire. This attack was in April of 2009 after the court proved guilty two boys of ages 10 and 11for their “prolonged and sadistic violence” that they perpetrated on two brothers. The court sentenced these boys to an indefinite custody for strangling their victims, making them eat nettles, hitting them with bricks, stripping them naked, and forcing their victims to abuse each other sexually. The authority bearing responsibility for the two boys admitted that the attacks these boys vented on their victims was a preventable case but they failed to take necessary measures of avoiding or stopping it, and as such, had to learn many important lessons from the incidents. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that all children are at risk of suffering child abuse of any kind, and from anyone, even those trusted to care and protect them such as their parents, peers, adults, relatives, neighbors, friends, teachers, and religious leaders. As such, it is vital that all persons with responsibility, love and care for their children take antics measures to ensure the safety and protection of all children within their midst. The government and other agencies concerned with child welfare should also take prompt measures to rescue children reported to be living in risky conditions or circumstances. In fact, from the above case studies, it is obvious that the concerned children agencies were sluggish in their steps to protect the children whom they got reports from concerned adults over their maltreatment and abuse. The government should also put stiffer penalties against anyone convicted for abusing a child in any way (Baldwin & Nelson, 2004). References Airey, A., Backett-Milburn, K., Hogg, G. & McKie, L. (2008). Family Comes First or Open All Hours? How Low-Paid Women Working in Food Retailing Manage Webs of Obligation at Home and Work. Sociological Review 56(3): 474–496. Andrew, T. & Susanne, E. (2006). 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