Most children are sexually abused by someone they know, often by someone in their own home. Abusers may be I positions of authority over the child, such as parent, other relatives, carer's, teachers, family friends, care workers, the list is endless. They may be abused by siblings or peers or complete strangers. Usually perpetrators act alone when abusing a child, however it is possible in some cases that abuse can take place in groups. In the past sexual abuse has been said to occur mainly in low income, poverty striven and neglectful working class families. However this is not the case, sexual abuse to children occurs in all social classes, races, cultural backgrounds and geographical locations.
Institutional sexual abuse is also a problem. Abuse can occur in children’s homes, boarding schools, nurseries, day schools and special residential schools. A survey by the National Association of Young People In Care (NAYPIC) (Moss et al., 1990) found that within a group of 50 self referred young people in care, 65% had alleged to have experienced sexual abuse. The public inquiry into abuse in children’s homes in North Wales (1996) heard tales of obscene abuse from 300 men and women. The enquiry, which was chaired by Sir Ronald Waterhouse, has been the biggest, most comprehensive investigation into 20 years of abuse in children’s homes. There were 650 former residents of homes in Wales who complained of abuse during the 1970’s and the 1980’s; 31 homes had more than one complaint made against them, some had as many as 140 complaints
The many laws relating to the abuse of children date back over a century and are continually being revised, renewed and new laws implemented. The 1989 Children’s charter gave the go ahead for the law to intervene where Child mistreatment was found to be occurring. The 1908 Punishment of incest act brought sexual abuse into the hands of the state, giving them the power to deal with sexual abuse within the family. Although a good step towards recognizing and punishing the perpetrators of Child sexual abuse, this act could not eradicate the fear felt by victims of abuse, fear which often prevented them from reporting their abuse. 1974 saw the development of Area child protection committees, these were designed to provide protection from abuse and ensure the safety of children who are at risk. The most influential of all the Acts passed concerning the abuse of children has been the 1989 Children’s act. This act gives all children the right to be protected from abuse and strengthened the requirements on all the agencies involved in child protection. The Sex offenders Act, 1997, established the requirement for specified sex offenders to register with the Police, further to this The Crime and Disorder Act of 1998 introduced the sex offenders order, which gave the police powers to monitor those subject to them and, In 1999, The protection of children Act was brought in to prevent paedophiles from getting jobs with children.
Recognizing Child Sexual abuse can be very difficult. The physical signs of sexual abuse are usually noticed by a doctor/ paediatrician. These signs can include, injury to the genital area, vaginal or anal soreness, bleeding or discharge, the discovery of a sexually transmitted infection, the discovery of semen on clothes and so on. It is likely that the abuse will be suspected due to the child’s behaviour. Children may become preoccupied with sexual matters and develop compulsive sexual behaviour, they may be attempting to simulate sexual acts, persistently masturbate or draw anatomically detailed pictures. For older children, it is more likely that the sense of betrayal and shame associated with having been abused will cause psychological problems, such as depression, self harm, suicide attempts and severe social isolation. In recognizing any of the above behaviours, parents, teachers, relatives, family friends, doctors, nurses etc have a responsibility to refer the child in order to identify and uncover the abuse so that the child may be protected from further abuse or danger.
Allegations of child abuse eventually arrive on the desks of local authority social workers whose legal obligation is to investigate. When taking referrals of sexual abuse there are seven main lines of inquiry which should be taken by the social worker responsible, they are;
- The abuse, or observation/ indicators suggestive of abuse.
- Who the perpetrator is and what is known about him/her.
- What is known of the circumstances surrounding the abuse.
- What is known about the general standard of care provided by the parents, and about the parents/carers themselves.
- Is the child and/or parent aware that a referral is being made to social services? If not, why not?
- The general health of the child: what observations, knowledge, etc, can be elicited about the childs emotional social, physical, psychological and social life.
- What if any, is the nature and extent of other agency involvement?
In order to be best equipped to deal with a referral, the social worker needs to ask many detailed questions within the above areas to make sure all angles can be covered in an investigation and so the social worker is fully equipped to deal with the parents of the sexually abused child and is able to provide them with the facts concerning their childs case. A social worker then has to proceed with investigating the referral. Inevitably, children need to be interviewed and so social workers need to be tactile and considerate when approaching the interview phase. There are many ways of interviewing children. Anatomical dolls are a good way of allowing children to interpret and communicate their abuse. However using these dolls is a delicate process and require the social worker to be trained in the use of them. Other areas in the disclosure interview which require social workers to be specially trained include the use of puppets, drawing, roleplay etc. During the interview most mothers choose to be present and are prepared for the interview by social workers to ensure they are aware what will happen and that they agree to it, she will be asked permission to video the interview and given a role to play, such as introducing her child to the social worker. Once disclosure has occurred and the extent of the abuse is confirmed, a medical examination is required to back up the interview. Again the mother needs to be prepared for this and has to give permission for the doctors to photograph her child. Once the abuse is confirmed by the medical examination, the police intervene to take over and interview the perpetrator.
In the 1970’s Local authorities set up Area child protection committees (ACPC’s). These include agencies such as social service departments, medical staff, education, health and probation services and the police, it is their duty to work together to ensure the safety of children in their area. This involves the duty to investigate abuse wherever the Local Authority
“has reasonable cause to believe that a child who lives, or is found, in their area is suffering, or is likely to suffer significant harm.” (Section 47 (1)(b) of Children’s Act 1989)
According to the Department of health, 1991, paragraph 4, an investigation into Child sexual abuse should aim to:
- Establish the fact and the circumstances giving rise to the concern.
- Decide if there are grounds for concern.
- To identify sources and levels of risk.
- Decide protective or other actions in relation to the child and others
(DOH 1991 g, para.4.14.3)
The local authority needs to decide whether or not to apply for a court order or provide services to assist the child and their family. In order to be able to do this they must use any means available to them to gain access to the child and if access is not given the Local Authority should apply for an order. Unless, they are certain the child is no longer at risk, in which case it should be planned that the case be reviewed at a later date.
There are numerous orders that can be applied for. A care order places the child in the care of the local authority. A child Assessment order requires that any person who is able to do so to produce the child for assessment. An Emergency protection order can be made if the court is satisfied that a child is likely to suffer significant harm or where enquiries are being made and attempts at access to the child are being hindered. The interim care order places the child in the care of the designated local authority.
Once an order is established, a case conference is usually arranged so that both the family and any professionals involved in the case can get together and discuss issues surrounding the case and make a plan of action. The case conference is not where the abuser is established and addressed;
“The only decision to be taken at the conference is whether or not to register the child and if registration is agreed, to allocate the key worker.” ( DOH 1991 g, para. 5.15.4)
Once the decisions have been made at the case conference, children can be placed on the child protection register. This can happen either if the child has been abused or professionals are concerned for their safety and the child is part of an inter-agency protection plan. If a child is part of an inter-agency protection plan they must receive regular reviews in order to provide the right care for them. Once placed on the child protection register each child is appointed a key worker, who must be a local authority social worker. This social worker becomes the focal point of any inquiries, queries, concerns or information concerning the child regarding the interagency plan. The social worker is involved in the reviews of this plan in order to determine whether or not the child is still at risk, needs more support, etc.
“The social services, of course, always have a thankless task. If they are over cautious and take children away fro their families they are pilloried for doing so. If they do not take such action and do not take a child away from its family, and something terrible happens to the child, then likewise, they are pilloried; so it is a very difficult position they find themselves in.” (Mr. Justice Hollis, quoted in the Cleveland report, Secretary of state for social services, 1988, P.85).
In 1997, The national commission of inquiry into the prevention of child abuse Survey of over 1000 social workers it was found that 86% of respondents did not feel that their social work training prepared them for dealing with the prevention of child abuse.
In Social work with children and families, the following advice is given when responding to child abuse, to listen, be supportive, don’t judge, don’t make promises that cannot be kept and don’t dither in reporting any concerns. There are however no simple checklists that can be applied when trying to determine whether or not abuse is taking place and there are no easy steps that can be taken to make it go away or magically get better.
