2: Recognising abuse

Chapter 2: 
Guidance in recognising abuse

Aim of this chapter

1. To describe forms of abuse and indicators of same
2. To provide specific cultural and faith-based considerations
3. To outline reasonable grounds for concern (Chapter 2, Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2017))

All those who contribute to the life of our local congregations have a part to play in keeping people safe. We do this in the arrangements we make in our congregations through well planned, safe environments and with clear procedures for volunteers and staff. 

All our leaders play an important role in responding effectively and compassionately when someone comes forward to share concerns or to disclose abuse, or when we believe a child may be at harm or risk of harm. 

‘Everyone must be alert to the possibility that children they are in contact with may be experiencing abuse or neglect’ (Chapter 2, Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2017)).

One of the main ways we can remain alert is to ensure that we can recognise main signs of abuse. This chapter outlines the main types and signs of abuse. 

This is a written guide and it is mandatory that all leaders and staff engaged with children and/or young people’s work in any manner undertake the appropriate level of training, alongside reading this policy.

Recognising abuse in this document is not defined in legal terms, but written in line with legislation for the ordinary reader to understand. 

This guidance is written for congregations and services based in the Republic of Ireland and on legislation, policy and guidance in that jurisdiction. Parallel guidance exists for Northern Ireland. 

Recognising abuse: A broad look

Additional risk circumstances

The likelihood of abuse can be affected by a number of other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that could make children more vulnerable to the potential for abuse and harm. These include but are not limited to:

• substance misuse in the household
• parent in jail
• domestic violence
• divorce and other family separation
• parental mental illness
• children in armed forces families
• poverty
• social/racial discrimination
• disability
• refugee families 

There are also some stages in a child’s own life that could make a child more vulnerable to the potential for abuse and harm. These include but are not limited to:

• age
• disability
• sexual identity
• mental health issues
• communication difficulties
• care-experienced children/care leavers
• young carers
• previous experiences of abuse

There are other factors that could affect the damage to a child’s health, development and welfare. These include but are not limited to:

• frequency of the neglect/abuse
• consistency of the neglect/abuse
• positive influences in a child’s life

Abusers and those who may cause harm to a child

Those who harm may be an adult known to the child or a stranger. 

It can be anyone who has contact with the child, in person or online, regularly or as a one off. 

It can include paid staff volunteers and include families and friends. Abuse can occur in any setting or organisation.

Children and young people can also cause harm and this should be considered a child welfare and protection issue for both children. The reporting procedures should be followed for both children involved. 

Recognising abuse and harm: A focused look

Child abuse is identified under four categories in Tusla’s Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2017): neglect, emotional, physical and sexual. 

We set out below a general summary for abuse types as National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2017).

Neglect

Child neglect is the most frequently reported category of abuse, both in Ireland and internationally. Ongoing chronic neglect is recognised as being extremely harmful to the development and well-being of the child and may have serious long-term negative consequences.

Neglect occurs when a child does not receive adequate care or supervision to the extent that the child is harmed physically or developmentally. It is generally defined in terms of an omission of care, where a child’s health, development or welfare is impaired by being deprived of food, clothing, warmth, hygiene, medical care, intellectual stimulation or supervision and safety. Emotional neglect may also lead to the child having attachment difficulties. The extent of the damage to the child’s health, development or welfare is influenced by a range of factors. These factors include the extent, if any, of positive influence in the child’s life as well as the age of the child and the frequency and consistency of neglect.

Neglect is associated with poverty but not necessarily caused by it. It is strongly linked to parental substance misuse, domestic violence, and parental mental illness and disability.

A reasonable concern for the child’s welfare would exist when neglect becomes typical of the relationship between the child and the parent or carer. This may become apparent where you see the child over a period of time, or the effects of neglect may be obvious based on having seen the child once.

The following are features of child neglect:

• Children being left alone without adequate care and supervision
• Malnourishment, lacking food, unsuitable food or erratic feeding
• Non-organic failure to thrive, i.e. a child not gaining weight due not only to malnutrition but also emotional deprivation
• Failure to provide adequate care for the child’s medical and developmental needs, including intellectual stimulation
• Inadequate living conditions – unhygienic conditions, environmental issues, including lack of adequate heating and furniture
• Lack of adequate clothing
• Inattention to basic hygiene
• Lack of protection and exposure to danger, including moral danger, or lack of supervision appropriate to the child’s age
• Persistent failure to attend school
• Abandonment or desertion

Emotional abuse

Emotional abuse is the systematic emotional or psychological ill-treatment of a child as part of the overall relationship between a caregiver and a child. Once-off and occasional difficulties between a parent/carer and child are not considered emotional abuse. Abuse occurs when a child’s basic need for attention, affection, approval, consistency and security are not met, due to incapacity or indifference from their parent or caregiver. Emotional abuse can also occur when adults responsible for taking care of children are unaware of and unable (for a range of reasons) to meet their children’s emotional and developmental needs. Emotional abuse is not easy to recognise because the effects are not easily seen.

A reasonable concern for the child’s welfare would exist when the behaviour becomes typical of the relationship between the child and the parent or carer.

Emotional abuse may be seen in some of the following ways:

• Rejection
• Lack of comfort and love
• Lack of attachment
• Lack of proper stimulation (e.g. fun and play)
• Lack of continuity of care (e.g. frequent moves, particularly unplanned)
• Continuous lack of praise and encouragement
• Persistent criticism, sarcasm, hostility or blaming of the child
• Bullying
• Conditional parenting in which care or affection of a child depends on his or her behaviours or actions
• Extreme overprotectiveness
• Inappropriate non-physical punishment (e.g. locking child in bedroom)
• Ongoing family conflicts and family violence
• Seriously inappropriate expectations of a child relative to his/her age and stage of development

There may be no physical signs of emotional abuse unless it occurs with another type of abuse. A child may show signs of emotional abuse through their actions or emotions in several ways. These include insecure attachment, unhappiness, low self-esteem, educational and developmental underachievement, risk taking and aggressive behaviour.

It should be noted that no one indicator is conclusive evidence of emotional abuse. Emotional abuse is more likely to impact negatively on a child where it is persistent over time and where there is a lack of other protective factors

Physical Abuse 

Physical abuse is when someone deliberately hurts a child physically or puts them at risk of being physically hurt. It may occur as a single incident or as a pattern of incidents. A reasonable concern exists where the child’s health and/ or development is, may be, or has been damaged as a result of suspected physical abuse.

Physical abuse can include the following:

• Physical punishment
• Beating, slapping, hitting or kicking
• Pushing, shaking or throwing
• Pinching, biting, choking or hair-pulling
• Use of excessive force in handling
• Deliberate poisoning
• Suffocation
• Fabricated/induced illness
• Female genital mutilation

The Children First Act 2015 includes a provision that abolishes the common law defence of reasonable chastisement in court proceedings. This defence could previously be invoked by a parent or other person in authority who physically disciplined a child. The change in the legislation now means that in prosecutions relating to assault or physical cruelty, a person who administers such punishment to a child cannot rely on the defence of reasonable chastisement in the legal proceedings. The result of this is that the protections in law relating to assault now apply to a child in the same way as they do to an adult. 

Sexual abuse occurs when a child is used by another person for his or her gratification or arousal, or for that of others. It includes the child being involved in sexual acts (masturbation, fondling, oral or penetrative sex) or exposing the child to sexual activity directly or through pornography.

Child sexual abuse may cover a wide spectrum of abusive activities. It rarely involves just a single incident and in some instances occurs over a number of years. Child sexual abuse most commonly happens within the family, including older siblings and extended family members.

Cases of sexual abuse mainly come to light through disclosure by the child or his or her siblings/friends, from the suspicions of an adult, and/or by physical symptoms.

Examples of child sexual abuse include the following:

• Any sexual act intentionally performed in the presence of a child
• An invitation to sexual touching or intentional touching or molesting of a child’s body whether by a person or object for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification
• Masturbation in the presence of a child or the involvement of a child in an act of masturbation
• Sexual intercourse with a child, whether oral, vaginal or anal
• Sexual exploitation of a child, which includes:
• Inviting, inducing or coercing a child to engage in prostitution or the production of child pornography [for example, exhibition, modelling or posing for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification or sexual act, including its recording (on film, videotape or other media) or the manipulation, for those purposes, of an image by computer or other means]
• Inviting, coercing or inducing a child to participate in, or to observe, any sexual, indecent or obscene act
• Showing sexually explicit material to children, which is often a feature of the ‘grooming’ process by perpetrators of abuse
• Exposing a child to inappropriate or abusive material through information and communication technology
• Consensual sexual activity involving an adult and an underage person

An Garda Síochána will deal with any criminal aspects of a sexual abuse case under the relevant criminal justice legislation. The prosecution of a sexual offence against a child will be considered within the wider objective of child welfare and protection. The safety of the child is paramount and at no stage should a child’s safety be compromised because of concern for the integrity of a criminal investigation.

In relation to child sexual abuse, it should be noted that in criminal law the age of consent to sexual intercourse is 17 years for both boys and girls. Any sexual relationship where one or both parties are under the age of 17 is illegal. However, it may not necessarily be regarded as child sexual abuse. Details on exemptions for mandated reporting of certain cases of underage consensual sexual activity can be found in Chapter 3 of Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children.  

Bullying

Part of empowering children and young people is making sure that they are protected from bullying behaviour while attending the church. 

Children First National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2017, p. 12) defines bullying in this way:

In cases of serious instances of bullying where the behaviour is regarded as possibly abusive, congregations may need to make a referral to Tusla and/or the Garda Síochána.

Cultural and faith-based considerations

There are a number of additional risk factors that should be considered in recognising abuse in a faith context, like ours.

These risks can cause barriers to disclosure or reporting and include but are not limited to: 

• strong beliefs can prevent children, young people and adults from reporting concerns
• a sense of honour or shame can prevent children and young people from seeking help or reporting concerns
• strong cultural or religious belief in the sanctity of marriage may dissuade children, young people and adults from reporting concerns
• opinions expressed by faith communities around children, regarding sex outside marriage, can cause a barrier for children and young people to speak up about abuse
• social isolation can occur if an individual or family are seen to have acted outside of the community of faith in some manner
• religion or faith can be used as an explanation for abusive behaviours or can be used as a distraction, for example, used to accuse professionals of discrimination
• some professionals lack knowledge about specific cultures and religions and do not feel confident in challenging harmful practices. Professionals want to be respectful of families’ cultural and religious practices but the desire to be culturally sensitive can result in professionals accepting lower standards of care (Culture and Faith: Learning from case reviews, June 2014, NSPCC)
• some extreme cases mean that children who are seen as ‘disobedient’ or ‘different’ are believed to be possessed by a spirit controlling their behaviour. The children can be physically and emotionally abused in an effort to ‘exorcise’ the spirit
• harmful or unhealthy cultures or ministry practices can be created around the character and personality of a charismatic leader, giving opportunity to abuse a position of trust
• individuals can believe the reputation of the Church is the most significant risk so do not respond appropriately to knowledge of abuse; the welfare of the child is paramount

Reasonable grounds for concern

It is everyone’s responsibility to protect children and young people and do their best to keep them safe. 

The Children First guidance requires that if anyone has reasonable grounds for concern that a child may have been, is currently or could become at risk of being abused or neglected that Tusla is informed.

You should seek the advice of the DLP or those in the congregation with mandated responsibility to report to Tusla (see Chapter 3) .  The details of the DLP will be available on the organisation Child Safeguarding Statement 

Where a child is at immediate risk a report should be made to the Garda without delay 

There are particular legal responsibilities on Mandated Persons to report harm above a defined threshold to Tusla and assisting with a concern which has been the subject of a mandated report 

Reasonable grounds for concern include but are not limited to:

• Evidence that is consistent with abuse and is unlikely to have happened any other way (for example, injuries)
• Any concerns that are about possible sexual abuse
• Consistent signs that a child is suffering from emotional or physical neglect
• A child saying or indicating by other means (for example, by drawing a picture) that they have been abused
• Admission or indication by an adult or a child of an alleged abuse they committed
• An account from a person who observed the child being abused

Now read Chapter 3: Responding and recording

In summary 

• Any child you come in contact with could be experiencing harm or abuse
• Doing nothing is not an option; you must always act

CHAPTER END