Child Protection and Safeguarding Children Policy and Procedures

Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning, scalding, drowning, giving children alcohol and / or inappropriate drugs, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child(young person). Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer feigns the symptoms of, or deliberately causes ill health to a child whom they are looking after.

Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent effects on the child's emotional development, and may involve: Conveying to children that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person; Not giving the child opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how they communicate; Imposing age or developmentally inappropriate expectations on children. These may include interactions that are beyond the child's developmental capability, as well as overprotection and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction; 

Seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another e.g. where there is domestic abuse; Serious bullying (including cyber bullying); Causing children frequently to feel frightened or in danger; Exploiting and corrupting children.

Racism can take various forms, including verbal abuse, physical assault, micro aggressions and indirect actions. Verbal abuse involves derogatory name-calling, racist jokes,abusive or offensive language, persistent teasing, and mocking someone for cultural differences such as their food, music, or clothing. These actions aim to belittle and isolate individuals based on their race or ethnicity, causing emotional harm and distress. 

Physical assaults can include hitting, kicking, spitting, stealing belongings, or making threats of violence. Indirect forms of racist bullying involve excluding someone from activities, spreading rumours, public humiliation, displaying racist graffiti or symbols, and sharing racist materials. It can also include making racist remarks during discussions, provoking others to act in a racist manner, or trying to recruit people into racist groups. All these behaviours contribute to a hostile environment and must be addressed promptly and effectively. 

Micro aggressions include offhand or casual remarks, exclusionary behaviors, stereotype-based questions or comments, publicly undermining or belittling others, claiming “color blindness”, marginalising or erasing identities, denying personal biases or prejudices, questioning or dismissing others' lived experiences.

Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child, young person or adult at risk to take part in sexual activities, including sexual exploitation, whether they are aware of what is happening and whether it is for money or reward or not. The activities may involve physical contact, including penetrative contact (e.g. rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts. They may include non-contact activities, such as involving children, young people or adults at risk in seeing, receiving or sending sexually suggestive emails or text messages, or inappropriate behaviour on the internet, involving them looking at, or in the production of, pornographic material or watching sexual activities or encouraging them to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.

Sexual Harassment can occur between two or more children of any age and sex, from primary through to secondary stage and into college. It can occur also through a group of children sexually assaulting or sexually harassing a single child or group of children. Sexual violence and sexual harassment exist on a continuum and may overlap; they can occur online and face-to-face (both physically and verbally) and are never acceptable.

Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child/young person’s basic physical and / or psychological needs, likely to result in serious impairment of health and development. Neglect is by far the most common form of abuse. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal substance abuse. Once the child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to: Provide adequate food, shelter and clothing (including exclusion from home or abandonment); Protect the child from physical harm or danger; Meet or respond to a child’s basic emotional needs; Ensure adequate supervision including use of adequate care-takers; Ensure adequate access to appropriate medical care or treatment; Ensure that emotional, social and educational needs are met.

May involve race, gender, disability or any protected characteristics of the Equality Act. This can include - 

Verbal abuse: Derogatory remarks, slurs or offensive language related to someone’s race, gender, disability etc. 

Harassment: Unwanted attention, intimidation or offensive behaviour targeting someone based on their differences. 

Denial of services: Refusing access to healthcare, education, employment or other essential services due to discriminatory reasons. 

Substandard service provision: Providing lower quality or inadequate services to individuals based on their protected characteristics. 

Exclusion: Deliberately excluding someone from activities, social events or support networks because of their differences.

Unequal treatment: Applying different standards or rules to individuals based on their protected characteristics

Disabled children are at increased risk of abuse, and those with multiple disabilities are at even more significant risk of both abuse and neglect. Parents of disabled children may experience various stresses. This group of children may be particularly vulnerable to abuse for several reasons, including: 

• Having fewer social contacts than other children, young people or adults at risk

• Receiving intimate personal care from a more significant number of carers

• Having an impaired capacity to understand what they are experiencing is abuse or to challenge the abuser

• Having communication difficulties resulting in difficulties in telling people what is happening

• Being reluctant to complain about fear of losing services

• Being particularly vulnerable to bullying or intimidation

• Being more vulnerable to abuse by peers than other children, young people or adults at risk.

Disability is defined as A significant physical impairment, severe illness and/or a moderate to severe learning difficulty; an ongoing high level of dependency on others for personal care and the meeting of other basic needs. You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.

Bullying can be physical, emotional or verbal. It can be in person or online. It can be unfriendly behaviour, excluding, tormenting (e.g. hiding personal belongings, threatening gestures). Usually repeated over a period, where it is difficult for those bullied to defend themselves. It can take many forms, but the three main types are physical (e.g. hitting, kicking, theft), verbal (e.g. racist or homophobic remarks, threats, name calling) and emotional (e.g. isolating an individual from the activities and social acceptance of their peer group). There is increasing use of new technologies as a tool for bullying, and such incidents should be taken seriously.

Self Harm is when somebody intentionally damages or injures their body. Children, young people, and adults at risk who harm or attempt to harm themselves should be taken seriously. Self-harming behaviour may cause 

impairment of their health or development and, in some circumstances, present significant harm or the risk of significant harm. Self-harming behaviour may also arise alongside eating disorders and/or drug misuse.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The procedure has no health benefits for girls and women, and is performed for cultural reasons. Procedures can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths. FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15. 

FGM is a criminal offence (Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 2003 and subsequent amendments by the Serious Crime Act 2015). Under the act, it is an offence to arrange, procure, aid or abet female genital mutilation. Parents/carers may be liable under this act. It is also an offence to allow the procedure to be undertaken in another country. When agencies become aware that a girl is at risk of FGM, a referral should be made to KCC Children’s social services.

A forced marriage is conducted without the full consent of both parties and where duress is a factor. Forced marriage can amount to sexual and emotional abuse and put children, young people or adults at risk, susceptible to physical abuse. In circumstances where there are concerns that someone is at imminent risk of a forced marriage, urgent referrals should be made to Children’s and Adults’ Social Care, as an initial discussion with the parent, carer or other community member may significantly increase the level of risk to the person.

Technology is a significant component in many safeguarding and wellbeing issues. Children are at risk of abuse and other risks online as well as face to face. In many cases abuse and other risks will take place concurrently both online and offline. 

Children can also abuse other children online, this can take the form of abusive, harassing, and misogynistic/misandrist messages, the non-consensual sharing of indecent images, especially around chat groups, and the sharing of abusive images and pornography, to those who do not want to receive such content. Children can also be groomed online and through social media by people coercing or manipulating them to sexually or criminally exploit them or seeking to radicalise them.

Sexting is when someone shares sexual, naked or semi-naked images or videos of themselves or others or sends sexually explicit messages. They can be sent using mobiles, tablets, smartphones, laptops, and any device that allows you to share media and messages. Sexting may also be called ‘trading nudes’, ‘dirties’ or ‘pic for pic’. The creation or sharing of explicit images of a child is illegal, even if the person doing it is a child.

County Lines is a form of criminal exploitation where urban gangs manipulate, coerce, or force children and young people to transport and store drugs or money, often moving them to suburban, market, or coastal towns. This exploitation can happen anywhere in the UK and is not only illegal but also recognised as a serious form of child abuse. Children involved in county lines may also face other types of criminal exploitation, including child sexual exploitation, trafficking, gang involvement, and knife crime. 

County lines gangs are highly organised and use increasingly sophisticated and adaptable methods to groom and control young people while avoiding detection by authorities. These criminal networks often target vulnerable children, exploiting their circumstances to draw them into dangerous and harmful activities. As a result, recognising and addressing county lines exploitation is essential to protecting children from abuse and harm.

Cuckooing happens when a county line gang takes over the home of a vulnerable adult by coercion or force, and uses it as a base to deal drugs from. A cuckooed address is sometimes referred to as a ‘trap house’, ‘bando’ or ‘spot’ by county lines gangs. The vulnerable person may have substance use or mental health

problems, be elderly or disabled, or be in debt to the gang. It’s important to remember that cuckooed individuals may be in need of support themselves,when county lines activity has been discovered.

Children and young people can be both victims and perpetrators of abuse, which can take various forms such as bullying, physical violence (hitting, kicking, biting, hair-pulling), sexual violence and harassment, sexting, and initiation or hazing rituals. 

Abuse can happen both online and offline, and research indicates that girls, children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and LGBT children are particularly vulnerable. Peer-on-peer abuse is most commonly seen in children aged 10 and above, often with the abuser being slightly older. 

Possible signs of peer-on-peer abuse include physical injuries, drug and alcohol misuse, going missing from home or school, involvement in criminal activity, withdrawal from education, poor mental health, and sexual health concerns. Recognising these signs early is essential to protecting children and providing them with the support they need to recover from harm.

Arts Education Exchange is committed to safeguarding children who are at risk of or have been trafficked by adhering to key principles. These include recognising that trafficking causes significant physical and emotional harm, placing the child's welfare above immigration status, and ensuring trafficked children receive the same standard of care as any other child in the UK. The organisation emphasises the importance of thorough assessments, coordinated multi-agency support, and working closely with local communities to build support networks and education programmes. Staff are trained to respond swiftly to any concerns, acting promptly to protect children before they go missing or face further harm. 

Children are trafficked primarily for financial gain and exploitation, which may involve organised gangs or individuals seeking personal profit. Exploitation can take many forms, including sexual abuse, domestic servitude, forced labour, criminal activity, or even organ trafficking. Various signs may indicate that a child has been trafficked, such as unexplained absences, physical injuries, unusual behaviour, evidence of exploitation, or controlling relationships. Arts Education Exchange stresses that all cases must be considered individually, and staff must remain vigilant in spotting potential indicators of trafficking to ensure timely intervention and safeguarding of vulnerable children.