What is safeguarding?

It might be difficult to accept, but every child can be hurt, put at risk of harm or abused, regardless of their age, gender, religion or ethnicity. 

Safeguarding legislation and government guidance says that safeguarding means:

• protecting children from maltreatment
• preventing impairment of children’s health or development
• ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care.

and

“undertaking that role so as to enable those children to have optimum life chances and to enter adulthood successfully.”
Working together to safeguard children (1.18 HM Government 2010)

“Child protection is a part of safeguarding and promoting welfare... to protect specific children who are suffering or are at risk of suffering significant harm.”






Working Together to safeguard children (1.20 HM Government 2010)

• Almost one third of children experience some form of bullying by their peers.1
• 7 per cent of children suffer serious physical abuse at the hands of their parents and carers.1
• 52 per cent of one-year-olds are hit weekly, or more frequently, by their parents.3
• 25 per cent of all rape victims are under 16 years old. 1
• 11 per cent of children aged under 16 experienced penetrative sex, oral sex or attempts  at these, against their will, by people known but unrelated to them.1
• Seven children under the age of 16 are murdered by strangers each year. This number has stayed the same over the past 20 years. 2
• Each week at least one child dies from cruelty. 2
• Almost two thirds of children killed at the hands of another person in England and Wales is under the age of five.3
• Deaf and disabled children are more than three times more likely to be abused or neglected than non-disabled children. 3
   

Why should you have safeguards in place?

Making sure your organisation has policies and procedures in place for safeguarding and child protection:

• protects children and young people from harm and abuse
• enables staff and volunteers to know what to do if they are worried
• shows that your group is responsible and has pride in its work.

You may also want to develop safeguards because you:

• have been told that you need a child protection policy and procedures in order to get funding or public liability insurance
• are applying for charitable status, and the Charity Commission has asked if you have a child protection policy
• suspect, or have experienced, an incident of abuse, and want to make sure it doesn’t happen again
• have read or seen news about a case of child abuse
• simply want to ensure your group is as safe as possible for children.

Is there safeguarding legislation?

In England the law states that people who work with children have to keep them safe. This safeguarding legislation is set out in The Children Act (1989) and (2004).  It also features in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (to which the UK is a signatory) and sets out the rights of children to be free from abuse. The Government also provides guidance in their document Working Together to Safeguard Children 

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006  introduces a single list for those barred from working with children and a single list for those barred from working with vulnerable adults. From these lists, a panel of experts (the Independent Safeguarding Authority) will make barring decisions. There will be a 'monitoring' system which will constantly update information on an individual once they have entered the system, and parents will be able to perform online checks for home tutors and music teachers working in their home.

End notes

1. Cawson et al. (2000) child maltreatment in the united kingdom: a study of the prevalence of child abuse and neglect. London: NSPCC ISBN: 1842280066
2. This statement is based on homicide statistics for England and wale published annually by the home office ‘At least one child’ reflects the figure of one to two children killed at the hands of another person every week (home office (2006) violent crime overview, homicide and gun crime in England and Wales 2004/2005). National commission of inquiry into the prevention of child abuse (1996) childhood matters: report of the national commission of inquiry into the prevention of child abuse: volume 2 background papers. London: The stationery office. ISBN 0113219989
3. Coleman. K. et al (2007) homicides, firearms offences and intimate violence  2005/2006: supplementary volume 1 to crime in England and Wales 2005/2006. London: Home office.