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How do Social Services help keep children safe? – A Guide for Adults

What is Child Abuse?

We have a duty to protect children and have to make enquiries when any kind of abuse is alleged.  Abuse can take many forms, including neglect, causing physical, sexual or emotional harm, and failure to act to prevent harm.  A child may be abused by a person they know, or, more rarely, by a stranger.

The All Wales Child Protection Procedures define the following categories of abuse:

• Physical Abuse - May involve hitting, shaking, burning or scalding, deliberate poisoning, suffocation, or physically harming a child in any other way.
• Emotional Abuse - May involve telling a child that they are worthless or unloved, humiliating them, causing them to feel frightened, or asking them to do something that is not reasonable for their age.
• Sexual Abuse - May involve encouraging or even forcing a child to take part in inappropriate sexual acts.  This can involve physical contact or showing pornographic material to a child.
• Neglect - May involve failure to provide enough food, warmth, safety, medical attention, education or mental stimulation.