Safeguarding Children Awareness

What is safeguarding for children?

Safeguarding is defined in Working together to safeguard children 2013 as:

protecting children from maltreatment
preventing impairment of children's health and development
ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care and
taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.

What different kinds of abuse are there?

There is an assumption that abuse is physical in nature. The truth is that it can be caused by a number of ways. Different kinds of abuse include:

Physical Abuse: Any intentional use of physical force with the intent to control a partner through fear or injury
Emotional/Verbal Abuse: An attempt to control a partner through the manipulation of their self-esteem, sense of personal security, relationships with others, and/or their perception of reality. Often it results in the victim feeling worthless and responsible for the abuse
Sexual Abuse: Any behaviours that impact a person's ability to control their sexual activity or the circumstances in which sexual activity occurs
Digital Abuse: This is a form of emotional/verbal abuse that uses technology or social media to intimidate, harass, bully, stalk or threaten a current or ex-partner
Financial Abuse: The use of finances or access to finances to control a partner. It's one of the powerful forms of abuse, and a common method of entrapping a partner in the relationship. It's often given as the reason that victims of the abuser stayed in or returned to an abusive relationship

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