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Reporting child abuse or neglect
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Child abuse is everyone’s problem and it’s more common than you think. It affects children from every type of home, family, religion, race and culture. In most cases of abuse, the abuser is well known to the child a family member, close relative or friend of the family.
Child abuse might be sexual, physical, emotional or neglect. Sometimes children are abused in more ways than one.
- Physical abuse is any physical injury done, non-accidentally, to a child by a parent or caregiver. Physical abuse endangers the child’s physical or emotional health or development. Shaking a baby is physical abuse.
- Emotional abuse includes constant yelling, threatening, scaring a child, belittling them or playing games with their emotions.
- Sexual abuse is when children (sometimes even toddlers and babies) are used in a sexual way by someone older. This includes everything from obscene exposure, touching the genitals in a sexual way, to rape. It doesn’t include normal sexual play between children of approximately the same age.
- Neglect is when children don’t have enough food, love or care. Neglected children may not get enough love and affection, they may not have enough to eat, their injuries may be left untreated, their clothes may not be warm enough, they may be dirty and at risk of infection, or they may be left alone. Neglect can be fatal. Children left unsupervised can die in house fires, be hit by cars or drown in baths or pools.
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What does abuse and neglect do to children?
Children can be severely damaged by abuse and neglect. They are hurt physically, emotionally, mentally and socially. Their self-esteem is damaged, sometimes permanently. The effects of this go on for years long after the abuse or neglect has stopped.
Abuse and neglect must be stopped. The sooner it can be stopped, the sooner the child can be helped to begin the process of healing.
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How to tell if a child is abused or neglected
General signs
If a child or young person is being abused or neglected, they will be upset. There are some general signs that indicate something is wrong. General signs of upset include:
- moodiness, irritability, excessive crying
- loss of appetite changes in eating habits
- changes in behaviour at school, or towards other people
- personality changes
- withdrawn behaviour
- being afraid to go home, running away
- inability to concentrate
- having unexplained fears of the dark, of being alone, of specific people (even relatives or friends), or of places (for example, bedrooms and toilets)
- sleep disturbances nightmares, fear of going to bed or sleeping alone.
Physical abuse signs
Bruises, burns, fractures, scalds or grazes. These injuries may be accidental, but if a child seems to be hurt often, the injuries are getting more serious, or there’s something odd about them, it could be abuse.
Emotional abuse signs
This isn’t easy to see as other types of abuse. Children may:
- tend to believe they are bad and worthless
- have problems getting on with others, or be hard to live with
- 'shut off’ or become too good
- have difficulty controlling anger.
Sexual abuse signs
Often the only sign may be some slight emotional upset. Children may:
- complain of pain or irritation in the genital area, or get infections and urinary problems
- start doing things they’re grown out of like crying, wetting or soiling their pants, or clinging
- have inappropriate sexual play or sexual language
- give a coded message or they may say directly that they are being abused.
These signs aren't always of sexual abuse.
Neglect signs
Neglected children may:
- be sickly and fail to thrive
- look uncared for, under-nourished, constantly dirty, ill or cold
- do badly at school through being tired, hungry or ill.
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Are you hurting your child?
Sometimes parents and caregivers get stressed and take it out on their children. If you are worried about hurting your child, contact a parent support group like Parentline or Parenthelp (their numbers are in the phone book), or talk to someone you trust.
You may think that shaking a baby does no harm, but it can easily cause brain damage or death.
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Are you being abused or neglected?
If you are being abused or neglected, you should tell someone you trust. This could be another family member, a teacher, a Police officer or a social worker.
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Who do you tell about abuse and neglect?
Child abuse should be reported to any Child, Youth and Family social worker or a member of the Police.
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When should you report child abuse?
When children are being abused, they are usually too scared to tell anyone. They cannot help themselves and, too often, the people they should be going to for help are the ones abusing them.
Child abuse needs to be reported because it’s likely to go on until someone gets help and the people involved may be too ashamed or too distressed to get help for themselves. By reporting abuse, you can help make a child safe.
Ask yourself the question, ‘Is the child safe?’ If the answer is ‘No’, report the suspected abuse immediately to Child, Youth and Family or the Police.
If you answer ‘Yes’ but continue to have concerns about the child’s well-being or are worried that the child is not being properly cared for, you can still report your concerns to Child, Youth and Family and discuss them with a social worker.
You could speak to the parent directly, and offer help.
If you suspect abuse or neglect, but can’t decide if you should report it, talk to someone who might know. You could ask a Child, Youth and Family social worker, or a nurse or a person you trust for advice.
Reports can be made verbally or in writing. People are sometimes reluctant to make a report because they feel it’s none of their business, or in case they’re wrong, or because they’re afraid of what might happen to them afterwards. Someone reporting suspected abuse can't get into trouble with the law as their report was made in good faith.
You can report abuse without giving your name if you prefer, but this can cause problems if social workers need to get back in touch with you to clarify something or get more information.
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What to expect if you report child abuse to Child, Youth and Family
We will treat you:
- with courtesy and respect
- fairly
- in a professional way.
We will make sure that you:
- have your personal details kept private
- are part of any decision that is made
- are given clear information about our services in the language of your choice.
- are told about other places that can help you
- are advised how to question a decision or make a complaint.
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Investigating abuse and neglect
Child, Youth and Family must consider investigating all reports of abuse and neglect. The family won’t be told who made the report, but in some cases they can guess who it was. If the matter is taken to Court, you may be called as a witness but very few cases go to Court. If it does, your report may only be a small part of the evidence.
When a suspected abuse or neglect notification requires an investigation, this is carried out by a social worker and/or a Police officer.
In cases where there is sexual abuse or serious physical abuse, both Child, Youth and Family and the Police will be involved because such abuse is a criminal matter.
When sexual abuse is suspected, the child may need to be interviewed following a special process set down for sexual abuse cases.
As far as is practical or desirable, the person who made the report is entitled to know the outcome of the investigation and whether further action is to be taken.
The response timeframes to notifications that require a investigation are:
- Critical (same day) immediate protection required.
- Very urgent (day of notification + 1 day) immediate investigation required.
- Urgent (within 7 days) investigation required.
- Low urgency (within 28 days) exploratory interview required.
Emergency actions range from interim care to immediate action via a warrant when the child’s safety is paramount. It may include admission to a Child, Youth and Family home, a foster home or residence.
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What happens after the investigation?
If no abuse or neglect is found
If no abuse or neglect is found, the family and the person making the report are informed and no further action is taken.
If it’s a relatively straightforward problem
- If the family wants to sort out the problem but needs some support, a family/whanau agreement could be made with Child, Youth and Family.
- A family meeting may be called to work out a simple solution to stop the problem becoming more serious.
If it’s a more serious or complicated case
- The case will be referred to a care and protection coordinator at Child, Youth and Family who will organise a family group conference to sort out how the child will be protected and cared for.
- In some cases, the matter may go before the Family Court, which will listen to the family and all involved, and make a ruling. It could order counselling, or some kind of support or services for the family. The Court will try to make sure the child is protected and cared for.
- As a last resort, the child or young person may be removed from their home to protect them from harm.
If a crime has been committed
For example, sexual abuse or a serious assault. The Police may decide to prosecute the offender.
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