The Protection of Children in Church and Society
This is an extract from the document produced by the Catholic Curch in the UK. The full text of the document can be read at:
http://www.rcdow.org.uk/cardinal/default.asp?content_ref=259
| FAQ - The Protection of Children in Church and Society |
posted on 14 January 2003  Diocese of Westminster 1. The Nolan Report: A Programme For Action, (London, 2001 Recommendation 4, p.19) 'The Church recognises the personal dignity and rights of children towards whom it has a special responsibility and a duty of care. The Church, and individual members of it, undertake to do all in their power to create a safe environment for children and to prevent their physical, sexual or emotional abuse. The Church authorities will liase closely with statutory agencies to ensure that any allegations of abuse are promptly and properly dealt with, victims supported and perpetrators held to account.' This recommendation along with all the other recommendations of the Nolan Report was adopted by the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales in November 2001. How common is child sexual abuse in Britain? 2. There are several major problems in the study of child abuse, particularly child sexual abuse, and its prevalence. There is a lack of co-ordinated national data; sexual abuse is rarely reported by victims or their families to the appropriate authorities; only approximately a quarter of cases are reported immediately; and very few result in a criminal conviction. Research results vary widely, due in part to the differences in criteria used by research bodies (such as the inclusion or not of non-contact sexual abuse), meaning that prevalence rates vary from 1 in 12 to 1 in 4. 3. To give a general picture, in Britain today there are approximately 30,300 children on Child Protection Registers. According to the NSPCC's data, in 2001, 12% were as a result of actual/likely sexual abuse compared with 23% for physical abuse and 35% classified under the category of neglect (for further information see www.nspcc.org.uk). 80% of all abuse cases occur within the family(A Programme For Action Chapter 3, 3.1.2). How was sexual abuse dealt with in the past? 4. Sexual abuse of any kind is not a new evil either in the Church or in society as a whole. However, knowledge about sexual abuse, the issue of child protection and the management of risk from known sex abusers has become a matter of major concern only in recent years. It is only since the seventies and eighties that active efforts have been made in Britain and internationally to protect the rights of children by means of specific legislation. This is not to say that child protection did not exist either within the Church or in English Law prior to this time, as the 1933 Children and Young Persons Act and the 1956 Sex Offenders Act illustrate. However, until the late twentieth century, professional opinion on child sexual abuse, its causes and possible treatment, was often confused and conflicting. Published material surrounding incidents such as Cleveland Inquiry of 1987, reveal widespread disagreement between professionals about approaches to the problem and methods of diagnosis, the lack of communication and co-operation between agencies (Health, Social Services etc) the inadequacy of training for professionals dealing with child abuse and the need for clear guidelines. As late as the early 1980s, only one in ten sexually abused children received any kind of treatment (Child Protection: Messages from Research, Department of Health 1995 p.76). The CIBA Foundation's 1984 publication Child Abuse Within the Family noted the 'equivocation and lack of clarity in official policy' and the temptation of area committees to ignore the problem in the absence of clear procedures (Child Sexual Abuse Within The Family ed. Ruth Porter (London, 1984) pp.xiv-xv) whilst Dominelli's study Gender, Sex Offenders and Probation Practice published in 1991, reported the inadequate training and resources available to probation officers dealing with sex offenders and the lack of co-ordination between agencies (Lena Dominelli, Gender, Sex Offenders and Probation Practice (Norwich, 1991) pp.72-78). |
[ Back ]