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What is Child Abuse?

Child abuse refers to any form of mistreatment or harm directed at a child. This abuse can occur in various environments, whether at home, outside, or online, and may be inflicted by people the child knows or by strangers. Abuse can take the form of intentional harm or neglect, where a person fails to prevent harm from occurring. Child abuse is typically classified into four categories. While safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility, we as a nursery practitioners play a crucial role by using our knowledge to identify early signs of abuse.

If you have a concern about a child..
 

NYSCP

Our designated Safeguarding Lead is

Rebecca
 

If you have a concern about a professional..
 

NYSCP

Listed below are some signs and examples of the four different types of abuse.

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse is causing physical harm to a child. A few examples of this could be;

  • Kicking

  • Pushing

  • Biting

  • Burning

  • Drowning

  • Suffocating

  • Hitting

  • Pinching

  • Poisoning

  • Marks in unexplained places 

Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse involves the continuous mistreatment of a child, causing significant harm to their emotional development. Signs of emotional abuse may include;

  • repeatedly belittling the child

  • preventing them from engaging in normal social interactions

  • making them feel worthless or unloved,

  • shouting or swearing at them

  • bullying

  • name-calling

  • making them feel inadequate, or exploiting and corrupting their emotional well-being.

  • Emotional abuse can also occur online.

Sexual Abuse

Forcing a child or young person to participate in sexual activities is a form of abuse. It doesn't always involve extreme violence; it can include actions like;
 

  • touching

  • rubbing

  • kissing

  • other forms of physical contact.
    Abuse can also occur online, such as

  • showing children explicit images or videos,

  • encouraging inappropriate sexual behavior,

  • prompting children to take part in sexual activities,

  • grooming a child for exploitation​.

Neglect

Neglect is the continual failure to meet a child's basic needs, which can harm their health and development. Signs of neglect may include:

  • lack of supervision

  • failure to provide love, warmth, protection, and a safe living environment,

  • inadequate clothing

  •  insufficient access to medical and dental care

  • not providing the child with the necessary nutrition and hydration.

Working with children regularly allows us to recognise potential warning signs and places us in a position of trust with the child, making them feel safe enough to share concerns with us. While it may not happen often, if a child does disclose something, we have a duty of care to take appropriate action to protect the child. 

It’s understandable that responding to disclosures can be intimidating, as we are dealing with people's lives. While there may be a simple explanation or it could be a false alarm, the potential consequences of not taking action could be far worse than those of acting on the concern.

© 2015 First Steps Day Care (Stokesley) Ltd

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