The Office of the Children’s Commissioner has published research looking at young people's recognition of abuse and neglect, and of getting help from family, friends and professionals.
Key findings include:
Key findings include:
- The ability of young people to recognise abuse and neglect was linked with increasing age
- Young people most often came to the attention of services through their behaviour and demeanour rather than through explicitly disclosing abuse
- It is important for professionals to notice signs and symptoms of children’s and young people’s distress at any age and not to rely unduly upon the child or young person to talk about their abuse. A significant risk of reliance on verbal telling is that a child’s silence or denial means that abuse is not pursued
- There are many barriers to telling for young people, including their past negative experiences of help, and the immediate supportive response of adults matters greatly for both immediate help and longer term benefit
- Young people value professionals they can trust, who are effective, knowledgeable and available. Teachers and youth workers were found to be particularly important as people to tell and they and social workers were valued as being able to provide holistic support
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