Child Abuse and Child Safeguarding Laws and Policies

Child Abuse: Types and Impact on Children

Child abuse occurs when a child is purposely harmed by an adult or another child over a period of time or as a one-time event. It can happen by physical, sexually, and emotional abuse. Physically, it can happen in the way of bruises, internal bleeding or other bodily injuries. post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, or depression are the example of mental child abuse (NSPCC , 2020). These abusive activities with the child can result in having trouble communicating with others or maintaining relationships. It can also occur in a personal or online setting. Bullying and cyberbullying, child sex exploitation, child exploitation, family violence, and emotional abuse are all examples of child sexual abuse (Radford, 2011). Child abuse has a negative impact on a child's self-esteem, development, and ability to function. Hence these activities need to be prevented. This paper will address the laws and policies that the government of the country has put in place to protect the interests of children, as well as how these laws and policies work to protect children from abuse.

Daniel Pelka, a four-year-old boy from the West Midlands, was implicated in a case of child abuse. The youngster was slain by him after he abused her with her partner. An adequate examination was undertaken following his death, and it was discovered that the kid had suffered from hunger, neglect, and physical abuse before to his death. An assistant instructor characterised him as a bag of bones, adding that he weighed only 10 kg at the time of his death. So, this is the peak of child abuse, when the victim was also invisible to society's social workers prior to his or her death. As a result, appropriate legislation and regulations are required to protect all of these vulnerable children from abuse (BBC NEWS, 2013)

Child abuse is a crime that has a potentially fatal impact on a child's life; as a result, children must be safeguard from the effects of this crime. Child safeguarding is the term for this type of child protection. Safeguarding children from abuse and maltreatment, preventing harm to children's health or development, ensuring that children grow up with safe and effective care, and adopting action to make sure that all children and child people have the best outcomes are all examples of safeguarding  (NSPCC Learning, 2020).  In order to strive for the protection of children in society, the government of the country has established several laws and regulations. The Children Acts of 1989 and 2004 as well as the policy "working together to safeguard children 2018" are the legislation in question ( Dickinson, 2019) To begin, the United Kingdom's parliament passed the Children Act 1989 to ensure that children's rights are protected and their wellbeing is fostered. It is based on the belief that children are best cared for in their own homes, but it also includes provisions for situations in which parents and families refuse to cooperate with governmental agencies. After then, the aforementioned act was amended, and the Children Act of 2004 was passed (legislation.gov.uk, 2021). And the newly enacted law reaffirmed that all people and organisations who work with children have a responsibility to help protect children and promote their welfare. The Act today serves as the foundation for most official administrations that benefit children, including the legislative authority of local Directors of Children's Services to oversee all local government responsibilities related to children's care and education.

Child Abuse Case: Daniel Pelka

Aside from that, the policy has been introduced by the government of the country with the name "working together to safeguard children 2018". The Department of Education has issued legislative guidelines outlining what organisations and agencies with responsibilities for children must and should do to protect and promote the welfare of all children and child people in England under the age of 18. This document outlines the regulatory standards that apply to particular services, as well as a framework for the three local safeguarding partners and two child death review partners (Commodious, 2020).
For the better result of these stated laws and regulations, proper implementation of such laws is also required. And for this it is necessary that the law enforcement authorities should perform their work with proper honesty and properly. Here as a law enforcement authority, police officers have the duty to timely record the complaint, make proper investigation and submit the report to the court. And in this instance, the court has the duty to properly consider the case and then decide in a strict manner and also as per the principle of natural justice (Moray Council, 2020).  

With the implementation of the law, it is also necessary that the children should also be aware and trained to protect themselves from the offences like the child abuse because until the police or other law enforcement authority do not able to take any action, they need to protect themselves on their part. For this, children need to be provided proper training, awareness of their rights and also little knowledge of the cyber- security provisions so they can use them for their security (The Children Society, 2020).
When the staged of proves or even purely alleges that a parent has abuse or neglected a child. A court may remove the child from the parent’s care. However, examination shows that separation a child from her parents has detrimental, long term psychical, emotional consequence that may be worse than leaving the child at home, this is due to the trauma of removal itself, as well as the unstable nature of. And high rate of abuse in foster care. Remove a child may also be alienated from their communities, and may be required to transfer schools compounding feeling of loss and isolation. It is a sad reality that removing child may sometime be necessary. However, in many cases cild can remain at home safely, particularly with targeted services or court supervision. Accordingly, considering the harm of removal in family course cases. In this case Daniel was very abuse it was good to removed him for there parents. | University of Bedfordshire