Tackling Child Abuse campaign

Local people are being encouraged to take action by Norfolk County Council , Norfolk Constabulary and the other members of the Norfolk Children's Safeguarding Board as part of a national Department for Education campaign 'Together, we can tackle child abuse'.

The campaign highlights the role everyone has to play in protecting children and young people from abuse and neglect, so a call is going out to all Norfolk people encouraging them to come forward if they have concerns. A poster promoting the campaign is available to download.

In Norfolk in January this year, 2441 people contacted the Norfolk MASH (Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub), of those 1090 were about a child potentially suffering abuse or neglect. However, national research shows almost half those who have suspicions don't come forward to report it because they are worried about being wrong or about what might happen next, so there is more people could do.

The national campaign seeks to reassure people that their concerns will form part of a picture that can help protect a child from harm and that it is rare that professional agencies act on one piece of evidence alone.

One concern is that people aren't sure how to spot the signs of child abuse and neglect and so an easy ABC is being promoted by the campaign to encourage people to report if they spot unusual changes in the following things:

• Appearance - such as frequent unexplained injuries, consistently poor hygiene, matted hair, unexplained gifts, or a parent regularly collecting children from school when drunk
• Behaviour - such as demanding or aggressive behaviour, frequent lateness or absence from school, avoiding their own family, misusing drugs or alcohol, or being constantly tired
• Communication - such as sexual or aggressive language, self-harming, becoming secretive and reluctant to share information or being overly obedient

Over the coming months, messages from the campaign will be seen in a variety of ways in Norfolk including through information from schools and across parish councils. It will also be highlighted on social media using the hashtag #tackleabusetogether on Twitter.

Two real cases of people coming forward in the last year which led to positive outcomes:

Case study one - Concerned neighbours called the Norfolk MASH as they were worried about a young single mum and her three children. They were particularly worried about the conditions in the house as it was dirty, the children were dirty and their mum didn't appear to be managing their behaviour. This led to lots of fighting and noise in the house and the garden. Because of the call, Norfolk County Council sent in a home-based support worker who was able to set out how the mum's behaviour could manage the children's behaviour, and give her help and advice with cleaning and healthy diets.

The county council's new 'Signs of Safety' approach also enabled staff to work with the whole family about how to keep themselves safe in the community. The process has been successful and the family is now back on track and managing well.

Case study two - A family member called into the MASH worried about how her niece was being treated by her mother. She had been concerned for some time but wasn't sure about making the call as she was worried her concerns would not be taken seriously and that she may make life more difficult for the child. The family member was able to give good detail and explain her own context within the family, which added value to her concerns. Because of this, staff within MASH were able to make checks with the school to find out the child's wishes and feelings around her home life and relationship with her mother. As a result it became clear that other members of the community were concerned and had shared these issues with the school. By making that call, the staff within MASH were able to draw all of the information together, which led to the child being allocated a social worker, and as a result her home life improved.