Safeguarding children and adults at risk of abuse and neglect policy

It is important to remember that many children and adults at risk will exhibit some of the signs and indicators below at some time, and the presence of one or more should not be taken as proof that abuse is occurring. There may well be other reasons for changes in behaviour such as a death, or the birth of a new baby in the family, relationship problems between parents/carers, etc. However, you should always report anything that causes you to suspect that abuse may be happening or discuss your concerns with the designated safeguarding officer, in order for appropriate action to be taken to ensure the welfare and safety of children and adults risk.

Recognising abuse is not easy, and it is not the responsibility of council staff, elected members or volunteers to decide whether or not abuse has taken place or if there is significant risk. We do however have a responsibility to act if we think it may be happening.

Abuse, including neglect are forms of maltreatment of a child or adult. Somebody may abuse a child or adult by inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm. Children and adults at risk may be abused in a family or in an institutional or community setting; by those known to them or, more rarely, by a stranger for example via the internet. They may also be abused by an adult or adults, or by another child or children.

Children and adults at risk can be subjected to more than one form of abuse at any one time and emotional abuse is present in almost all cases.

Types of abuse – children and adults at risk

Within the relevant legislation and statutory guidance there are four known categories of abuse identified for children and 10 categories of abuse noted for adults.

Children

Physical, emotional (or psychological), sexual and neglect.

Adults

Physical, emotional (or psychological), sexual, neglect, financial, discriminatory, organisational, domestic abuse, modern slavery and self-neglect.

Please note that the examples and signs detailed below may also be indicators of other medical factors and may not necessarily confirm abuse and neglect. These tables are provided as a guide to help with the assessment process and the work with children, adults at risk and their families.

Physical abuse

May involve hitting, shaking, pinching, slapping, biting, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing harm.

Physical harm may also be caused when a parent fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces illness in a child. For adults, it may also involve withholding care or force feeding, or the use of inappropriate methods of restraint or physical intervention.

Emotional abuse

Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a person such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child or adult’s emotional development. It may involve conveying to the child or adult that they are worthless or unloved. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. It may include seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another or serious bullying causing individuals frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children is also emotional abuse. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment, though it may occur alone.

Sexual abuse

Involves forcing a child or adult at risk or enticing a child or adult to take part in sexual activities, including prostitution (adults), whether or not the person is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative (e.g. rape, buggery or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts.

They may also include non-contact activities, such as involving children looking at, or in the production of pornographic material or watching sexual activities, or encouraging children to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.

For adults at risk, this includes any form of sexual activity that the adult does not want and which they have not consented to (or have the capacity to consent to). Any sexual relationship that develops between adults where one is in a position of trust, power or authority in relation to the other is abuse. Specific activities may include rape, buggery, incest, touching without consent or exposure.

Neglect

Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s or adult at risk’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the individual’s health or development.

Neglect may occur in pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to provide adequate food and clothing, shelter, failing to protect a child from physical harm or danger, failure to ensure adequate supervision or the failure to ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment. It may include failing to provide access to social and educational support, or the failure to provide adequate supervision and guidance – leaving a child to cope alone, abandoning them or leaving with inappropriate carers and failing to provide appropriate boundaries about behaviours such as under age sex or alcohol. It may also include neglect of, or not responding to, a child’s basic emotional needs.

For adults at risk, neglect may involve the withholding or failure to provide the support necessary for the adult to carry out the activities of daily living. This may include withholding food, care or service. Neglect may also include a failure to intervene in situations that are dangerous to the adult concerned or others, particularly when the person lacks the mental capacity to assess risk.

Self-neglect (adults)

Self-neglect can sometimes be as a result of a person’s choice of lifestyle and covers a wide range of behaviour including little or no personal care, refusing medication or refusing to stay on medication, disoriented or incoherent, unsafe living conditions and hoarding, inability to manage finances and property, isolation, hoarding when it becomes extreme (including animal hoarding. In these cases there is no abuser.

Financial abuse (adults at risk)

Misappropriation of an individual’s funds, benefits, savings etc or any other action that is against the person’s best interests, e.g:

• Theft of money, possessions, property or other material goods.
• Misuse of money.
• Fraud or extortion of material assets.
• Persuading an adult at risk to enter into a financial agreement, which is to their detriment.
• Over-charging for services
• Tricking someone into receiving good or services they did not want or need
• Exploitation of pressure in relation to wills.

Discriminatory abuse (adults at risk)

This can be described as the intentional, wilful or unintentional abuse of a person based on their protected characteristics, for example, race, gender or religion. It includes the use of inappropriate ‘nick names’ or derogatory language or terminology, enforcing rules or procedures which undermine the individuals wellbeing, denial to follow a religion or develop relationships, denial of health care or lack of appropriate food.

Organisational abuse (adults at risk)

This is the mistreatment of people brought about by poor or inadequate care or support, systematic poor practice that affects the whole care setting. It occurs when the individual’s wishes and needs are sacrificed for the smooth running of a group, service or organisation and when more than one individual is being neglected It also includes other forms of abuse which happen on an organisational scale and in situations where everyone is treated the same.

For signs against each type of abuse refer to Appendix A of the safeguarding children and adults at risk procedure.

Other types of abuse

Domestic violence and abuse

As of 1 March 2013, the Home Office definition of domestic violence and abuse is:

Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling[1], coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. This can encompass but is not limited to the following types of abuse; psychological, physical, sexual, financial and/or emotional

In all cases where there is knowledge or suspicion that there exists a potential for a child or children to be suffering harm as a result of domestic violence and abuse, then a referral should be made to Children’s Social Care via the First Response Team (FRT) who act as the first point of contact for all referrals in relation cases that meet the threshold for significant harm – for further information please refer Section 1E threshold framework ‘accessing the right help at the right time’.

Where it is thought that a victim of domestic violence and abuse meets the definition of an adult at risk of abuse and neglect, then an adult protection referral should be made to the Contact Centre on 0845 604 2719.

[1] Controlling behaviour is: a range of acts designed to make a person subordinate and/or dependent by isolating them from sources of support, exploiting their resources and capacities for personal gain, depriving them of the means needed for independence, resistance and escape and regulating their everyday behaviour.

[2] Coercive behaviour is: an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse that is used to harm, punish, or frighten their victim.

Hidden harm

Children may be suffering from the effects of what is known as ‘hidden harm’ if they live with parents or carers who are misusing drugs or alcohol. Children in these situations may be acting as young carers or they may be subjected to any of the forms of abuse described above. Separate policies and procedures for children living with parents who misuse substances and those who are deemed as young carers can be found on the SSCB website.

Child sexual exploitation

Child sexual exploitation is a form of sexual abuse. It occurs where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance of power to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child or young person under the age of 18 into sexual activity (a) in exchange for something the victim needs or wants, and/or (b) for the financial advantage or increased status of the perpetrator or facilitator. The victim may have been sexually exploited even if the sexual activity appears consensual. Child sexual exploitation does not always involve physical contact; it can also occur through the use of technology. (DFE2017)

Children and young people do not make informed choices to enter or remain in sexual exploitation. Rather, they do so from coercion, enticement, manipulation, fear or desperation.

For further guidance see the SSCB website.

More information is also available on the safeguarding area of the intranet.

County lines

The Home Office uses the following definition:

The police term for urban gangs supplying drugs to suburban areas and market and coastal towns using dedicated mobile phone lines or “deal lines”. It involves child criminal exploitation (CCE) as gangs use children and vulnerable people to move drugs and money. Gangs establish a base in the market location, typically by taking over the homes of local vulnerable adults by force or coercion in a practice referred to as “cuckooing”.

There is no ‘legal definition’.

It is a major cross-cutting issue involving drugs, violence, gangs, safeguarding, criminal and sexual exploitation, modern slavery and missing persons.

It is coercive and controlling, once engaged it is really difficult for young people to escape the lifestyle. Children and young people can be ‘groomed’ and exploited in larger cities and required to move drugs and deal in smaller towns and cities. But they can also be exploited by the gangs in small towns and cities.

More information is available on the government website.

Forced marriage

Forced marriage[3] is a marriage without the full and free consent of both parties. It is a form of domestic violence and an abuse of human rights. In an arranged marriage the family will take the lead in arranging the match but the couples have a choice as to whether to proceed. In forced marriage, one or both spouses do not (or, in the case of some disabled young people and some adults cannot) consent to the marriage and some element of duress is involved.

Duress can include physical, psychological, sexual, financial and emotional pressure.

It is important to note that the Mental Capacity Act does not allow for consent to marry to be given on behalf of a person without capacity to make this decision for themselves.

[3]Research carried out by the then Department for Children, Schools and Families estimated that the national prevalence of reported cases of forced marriage in England was between 5,000 and 8,000, with the youngest victim being 2 years old and the oldest 76 years.

Female genital mutilation

Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

It is illegal in the UK.

FGM is known by a number of names including female genital cutting, female circumcision or initiation. The term female circumcision suggests that the practice is similar to male circumcision, but it bears no resemblance to male circumcision, has serious health consequences and no medical benefits. FGM is also linked to domestic abuse, particularly in relation to “honour based violence‟.

Modern slavery/human trafficking

Modern slavery encompasses slavery, human trafficking, and forced labour and domestic servitude. Traffickers and slave masters use whatever means they have at their disposal to coerce, deceive and force individuals into a life of abuse, servitude and inhumane treatment. People may also be forced into criminal activity, including benefit fraud.

Trafficking of persons means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat of, or use of coercion, abduction, and fraud, and deception, abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability. It also includes the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.

The organised crime of human trafficking into the UK has become an issue of considerable concern to all professionals with responsibility for the care and protection of children and adults at risk. Any form of trafficking humans is an abuse.

It is important to note that some cases involve UK-born people being trafficked within the UK, e.g. people being trafficked from one town to another. The consent of the victim of trafficking is irrelevant where any of the above methods have been used.

Trafficked people may be used for sexual exploitation, agricultural labour including tending plants in illegal cannabis farms and benefit fraud. Children as well as adults at risk are trafficked.

We have a duty to notify the Secretary of State of suspected victims of slavery or human trafficking as introduced by section 52 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. This is through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM). Referrals to the NRM can only be made by authorised agencies known as First Responders.

If you have a concern regarding a person being a victim of modern slavery and/or the possible trafficking of a person you should immediately contact the designated safeguarding officer /deputy safeguarding officer or you can make a referral through the NRM. The reporting form will help you through the process. Referrals also need to made to Children’s and Adult Safeguarding.

Employees, elected members or volunteers should not do anything which would heighten the risk of harm or abduction to the child or adult.

View further guidance.

Race and racism

People from black and minority groups (and their parents or carers) are potentially likely to have experienced harassment, racial discrimination and institutional racism. Although racism causes significant harm it is not, in itself, a category of abuse (unless the victim meets the definition of an adult at risk of abuse and neglect, in which case an appropriate referral should be made) and dealing with it is considered under other specific policies of the council and the District Community Safety Partnership.

Hate crime

The National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) have a nationally agreed definition of hate crime. Hate crimes are taken to mean any crime where the perpetrator's hostility or prejudice against an identifiable group of people is a factor in determining who is victimised.

This is a broad and inclusive definition. A victim does not have to be a member of an identifiable group. In fact, anyone could be a victim of a hate crime.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) have agreed five monitored strands of hate crime as set out below.

A hate crime is any criminal offence that is motivated by hostility or prejudice based upon the victim's:

• Disability
• Race
• Religion or belief
• Sexual orientation
• Transgender identity

Hate crime can take many forms including:

• Physical attacks such as physical assault, damage to property, offensive graffiti and arson
• Threat of attack including offensive letters, abusive or obscene telephone calls, groups hanging around to intimidate, and unfounded, malicious complaints
• Verbal abuse, insults or harassment - taunting, offensive leaflets and posters, abusive gestures, cyber bullying, offensive jokes and comments, dumping of rubbish outside homes or through letterboxes, and bullying at school, at home or in the workplace.

If the victim of a hate crime meets the definition of an adult at risk of abuse and neglect, an adult protection referral should be made to the Staffordshire Adult Protection team contact centre on 0345 604 2719.

Safeguarding people who are vulnerable to being drawn into violent extremism and / or terrorism

The current threat from terrorism in the United Kingdom can involve the exploitation of vulnerable people, including children of all ages, young people and adults at risk to involve them in terrorism or activity in support of terrorism.

Violent extremism is defined by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as:

The demonstration of unacceptable behaviour by using any means or medium to express views, which:

• Encourage, justify or glorify terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs
• Seek to provoke others to terrorist acts
• Encourage other serious criminal activity or seek to provoke others to serious criminal acts
• Foster hatred which might lead to inter-community violence in the UK.

There are a number of offences that can be considered when dealing with violent extremism. They include offences arising through spoken words, creation of tapes and videos of speeches, internet entries, chanting, banners and written notes and publications. The main offences employed to date have been soliciting murder and inciting racial hatred.

The Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Safeguarding Children Boards and the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Adult Safeguarding Partnership Board recognise the need to protect people against the messages of all violent extremism including that linked to far right / neo-nazi / white supremacist, Al Qaeda ideologies, Irish nationalist and loyalist paramilitary groups, and that linked to animal rights extremists.