A major charity working with victims of domestic abuse says calls to their 24-hour helpline increased by more than 50 per cent in the year of the pandemic. The lockdown means some women have felt trapped at...
Last year, the health and social care select committee highlighted the social care system as “unfair, confusing, demeaning and frightening for the most vulnerable people in our society and their families”. But...
Over the past year, reports of domestic violence have risen enormously – while refuge places are scarce. One woman explains what it is like trying to help those who have fled for their lives. Read the full...
Services supporting families at an early stage in order to prevent child safeguarding issues are “under serious threat”, due to pressure on budgets as a result of rapidly rising numbers of children at risk of serious harm, and short-term...
The Home Office has published the second progress report on the UK’s ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul convention), which describes actions taken since the...
Working conditions for children’s social workers have worsened over the last year, with two thirds wanting to leave their current job, it has emerged. A survey of almost 2,000 (1,953) children social workers found that almost half (48 per...
Europol has published a report on child trafficking in the European Union (EU). Findings from a study of almost 600 intelligence contributions reported to Europol by member states between 2015 and 2017 include: traffickers active in the EU target...
The House of Commons Home Affairs Committee has published a report following an inquiry into the government’s proposed domestic abuse strategy and draft bill on domestic abuse. The report looks at the impact of domestic abuse on children and makes...
The number of children deemed to be at risk of abuse or neglect has risen markedly over the last year, government figures show. Department for Education statistics show that councils started 68,770 child protection plans in 2018 – the...
A cash-strapped county voted last week to proceed with early-help staffing cuts after they were called in by a scrutiny panel. Somerset council, which in July warned it could face effective bankruptcy if its financial position did not improve by...
The number of suicides among children who are either in care or are known to social services as being at risk of abuse or neglect has increased by more than 30 per cent in the last year, it has emerged. A total of 46 children who were in care or...
Faith-based groups and places of worship play a major role in the lives of many children and young people. This means safeguarding must be a key consideration in all faith settings. Access this document: Safeguarding in faith communities Author:...
When practitioners are trying to decide whether a child is mature enough to make decisions, they often talk about whether the child is ‘Gillick competent’ or whether they meet the ‘Fraser guidelines’. The Gillick competency...
