Protecting children: the current
context
Dr Liz Davies, Reader in Child
Protection:
London Metropolitan University
l.davies@londonmet.ac.uk
www.lizdavies.net
Child protection is political
• Children silenced
• Adult survivors silenced
• Professionals, the voice for children and
survivors are silenced
Effective child protection must include seeking
justice through targeting perpetrators. When you
enter this world it is one of cover –up and intrigue
It’s a secret world and when we investigate we
mirror the hidden world of the abusers.
NSPCC SCR’s 2011-2012
• 74 SCRs
• 23 included parental or child
substance/alcohol misuse
• 18 parental mental health problems of which
half also had substance misuse problems.
Again and again conclusions stated nonimplementation of child protection
procedures
Bearing witness to injustice
Friere described the role of the ‘critical witness’
as involved in an ongoing process which is not
static but active.
Friere P (1972) Pedagogy of the Oppressed p144
------------------------------------------------------Power over
Also power with and power to
(Thorpe in Okitikpi)
CHILDISM:Oppression of children
CRAE (2012) The State of Children’s
Rights in Britain
‘Most children who died from abuse had not
had child protection procedures to keep
them safe’.
‘Social work managers spoke of rising referrals,
cuts in funding and cuts in staff affecting
services to support families’.
Tom Watson MP
• The evidence file – used to convict paedophile Peter Righton
– if it still exists, contains clear intelligence of a widespread
paedophile ring. One of it’s members boasts of his links to a
senior aide of a former Prime minister, who says he could
smuggle indecent images of children from abroad. The leads
were not followed up, but if the files still exist, I want to
ensure that the Metropolitan Police secure the evidence, reexamine it, and investigate clear intelligence suggesting a
powerful paedophile network linked to Parliament and
Number 10
October 2012
Peter Righton: Social work academic, school governor (New
Barns school,Gloucester) convicted 1992 for possession of
abusive images of children. Lived on Baron Henniker Estate in
Suffolk where Islington children went for holidays. Died
2007.Investigations in Islington and Hereford and Worcester
closed. Contributed to Perspectives on Paedophilia (Taylor 1981)
and member of PIE. Charles Napier, friend, co author and PIE
member , convictions - found in Devon. Unmonitored.
The Minister being referred to? Still unnamed.
Elm Guest House ,Rocks Lane.South
London:ExaroNews, Independent
Murun Buchstansangur (Twitter) Tom Watson MP
(website/Twitter) Mark Williams Thomas (Twitter)
‘Paedophilia bringing dark desires to light’
Jon Henley;Guardian 03.01.2013. The Editor
wrote:‘an intelligent, calm and informative piece about
this disturbing area of life’
Tom O’Carroll, founder of PIE and author of radical Case
for paedophilia 1989, convicted for distributing indecent
images of children, launches his website in confidence.
Graham Ovenden: artist 70 yrs; convicted after 20 years
6 charges of indecency and one of indecent assault.
Rachael Cooke Guardian ‘images of children now
revealed to be porn not art.. But some images not even
naked.. But even if they were naked I wouldn’t feel any
differently’
AA Gill: ‘How dare the Tate hide the works of Graham
Ovenden after his conviction for indecency?’ We have
regressed to being 17thC witchfinders. The fear of and
fury against paedophilia know no proportion’. Sunday
Times 14.04.2013
Demise of child protection
systems
Since the mid-90s government policy has
led to a demise of child protection
systems and children are now less well
protected. This agenda was deliberate
and well organised with extensive
support from academics
The global industry of child abuse has
been safeguarded but not the child
victims
A global crime requires a global protective
response
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
sexual exploitation
trafficking
international adoption trade
organised, institutional and ritual abuse networks
online abuse
trade in abusive images of children
forced marriage
sex tourism
bonded labour/ child sex slavery
illegal organ trade
Children increasingly unprotected
• Substantial reduction in children protected by statutory
protocols since mid 90s, accelerated since 2003
• This does not reflect known prevalence rates or the vast
extent of global industry of child abuse as even now being
exposed. Resources do not match the need.Operation
Fernbridge/ Fairbank : few struggling officers. Should be multi
agency, multi professional team.
• The most vulnerable children remain unprotected
• The most powerful and well organised criminals avoid
detection, prosecution and conviction
• The government planned for a public response to an increase
in child deaths from abuse
Reduction in protective action
1995
2009 2010 2012
Physical abuse 12,300 4,400 4,700 4690
Sexual abuse 7,200 2,000 2,200 2220
11,721,722 children in England in 2010
42.850 in 2012 subject to CP Plans
(Majority neglect and emotional harm)
NSPCC research 2011: prevalence
rates
One in four young adults (25.3%) had been severely maltreated during
childhood.
One in seven young adults (14.5%) had been severely maltreated by a parent
or guardian during childhood.
One in nine young adults (11.5%) had experienced severe physical violence
during childhood at the hands of an adult.
One in nine young adults (11.3%) had experienced contact sexual abuse
during childhood.
Almost one in 10 young adults (9%) had been severely neglected by parents
or guardians during childhood.
NSPCC (2011) Child abuse and neglect in the UK today. www.nspccinform.org
Demise of child protection systems since
mid 90s
• Abolition of child protection register
• Undermining of police / probation / social work
joint investigation
• Social workers assessing child and family need /
police investigating crime/probation working with
perpetrators
• lack of protocols for risk analysis
• Loss of specialist child protection social work
teams and joint social work/police teams
Political agendas: From the welfare state to
the security state
• Privatisation: profit motives above the welfare of children. Undermining
professionalism and deskilling the workforce makes it ripe for
privatisation (e.g. Suffolk). Narrow down statutory work to a minimum.
• Government funding services £448 million to 150,000 multidisadvantaged /hard to reach families because of the ‘corrosive element’
and preventing social unrest. Families defined as - poor housing,
unemployed, poor education, can’t afford food & clothing.
• Criminalisation of children as suspects not victims: pre-emptive
criminalisation e.g. ASBOs
• Population surveillance and control. Extensive insecure databases of
information about children and families
Don’t forget Sedgemoor
Venture Capital company ECI bought Sedgemoor in 2005.
Sedgemoor was one of the largest providers of residential
care for children.
In 2007 facing losses 45 children’s homes (caring for 75
children) went into liquidation. 5 days consultation with Ofsted
and relevant LAs.
Within 48 hours 15 homes were sold on. Children in the
remaining homes had to be found new placements.’ One
council said, ‘the children were very angry, understandably’
These firms tend to operate on a 3-5 year investment model.
‘Is this compatible with the long term care needs of the most
vulnerable members of society?’ (Louise Tickle Guardian
05.02.08)
WYETH – 2003 ECM
Wyeth pharmaceutical company – a multi national
specialising in vaccinations, behaviour modifying
medication, children’s antibiotics, babymilk etc.
It was planned for this company to launch Every Child
Matters Green Paper with the DfES.
Don’t assume your in-house providers are the best option
…a scope of current and potential markets for
providing children’s services … to create a successful
business model’. DfES (2004:30)ECM Next Steps
Followed Climbié
Privatising statutory child protection
Suffolk tried to privatise all children’s services.
Public outcry.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/sep/22/suffolk-county-council-outsourceservices
Tim Loughton MP
I am going to rip up the guidance
(Community Care Live presentation May 2012)
We know how to protect children - the
knowledge base exists
The language of child protection has been
stolen from us
The systems of child protection have been
stolen from us.
Analysis of academic texts
The texts were analysed with respect to five
terms;
• joint investigation
• police child abuse investigation team/unit
• Section 47 (Children Act 1989)
• strategy meeting
• child protection register/child protection plan
Analysis of 42 child
protection/safeguarding academic texts
between 2000 and 2009
Number of texts out
of a total of 42 in
which term included
joint investigation
3
police child abuse investigation team/unit
3
Section 47 (Children Act 1989)
5
strategy meeting
4
child protection register/
child protection plan
10
Reviews that restrict themselves to abuse
within the family and ignore the global industry.
Laming ‘The Protection of children in England’
2009: ‘Just do it’ DO WHAT?
Munro ‘Review of child protection – a child
centred system’ 2011 (HELPING CHILDREN’
‘THE CHILD’S JOURNEY’ ETC
Neither mention key aspects of child protection
systems: S47, strategy meetings, child
protection conferences, CAITs
Munro Review of child protection 2011
• Focus only on abuse within family – early intervention/help
• Omitted focus on perpetrators and organised crime:
CAIT/Probation not mentioned
• Focus on bureaucracy - used to promote downsizing of
guidance Working Together: practice guidance to be locally
written (DfE 2010): Parallel developments in Probation
reducing national standards to three pages
• Decided against the need for a National Signposting system
• Omitted child protection procedures, S47, strategy meetings,
child protection conferences
• No mention of children known to be at high risk of harm (eg.
disabled children, children in custody, unaccompanied
minors)
Working Together 2013:
implemented 15th April
• Reduction from 700 pages to just 97
• Not a transparent process. No summary of the
consultation process.
• Allan Norman ‘ Human Rights eliminated from the
guidance. Keep 2010 version at your elbow’.
• ECPAT ‘ the repercussions could be catastrophic
• Thresholds and protocols to be decided locally yet
Edward Timpson spoke of too much variation in child
protection across the country.
The change in language
• Key definitions and terminology open to
misinterpretation
• Joint investigation/investigation completely gone
(only refers to criminal investigation
• Protect replaced by help / support /concern
• ‘Anyone working with children should see and speak
to the child’. Phrases that mean little or nothing
• Initial conferences; no mention of categories (in
glossary) no mention of significant harm.
Conflation of assessment and investigation.
Need both as distinct protocols
• Assessment of child’s needs – partnership with family, open approach,
consent needed to interview child
• Section 47: medical and forensic evidence, intelligence gathering, profile
abusers, venues/associates, do not need parental consent for interview of
child or to make checks with other agencies. May need to challenge and
confront parents/carers.
• The new version of WT has abolished initial assessment and blurred the
boundary between child welfare and child protection concerns (Norman
2013)
• 45 days assessment. Risks delay in protective response (Pilots only reviews
timescales not impact of statutory intervention)
• A linear approach from assessing need to assessing harm instead of two
distinct processes.
• Leads to over intrusion into family life at level of ‘concern’ – state power
over the ‘goodenough’ family.
Under intrusion when child in need
approach replaces child protection
Police role
• No mention of Police CAITs. Strategy meetings to be
attended by police representatives (unclear)
• ‘All police forces should have officers trained in child
abuse investigation’
Chapter 6 The Supplements
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Organised and complex abuse
Female Genital Mutilation
Spirit possession
Fabricated and Induced Illness
Disabled children
Forced marriage
Sexual exploitation
Children affected by Gang activity
Allegations against staff
Other Chapters that have gone
• Chapter 4: Training and development
• Chapters 9 and 10: Lessons from
Research
• Chapter 11: Particularly vulnerable
children
• Chapter 12: Managing individuals who
pose a risk of harm to children
Organised abuse
• The definition of organised abuse has been
removed.
• The means of investigating organised abuse
has been removed.
DfE response: Organised abuse guidance is in
ACPO manual (2009). A police manual. One
page refers back to WT 2010 and Home Office
Guidance 2002 as recommended in WT 2010.
WT 2013: Lack of Caveats:
If to do so is in the child’s best interests
If to do so will not place the child at risk of harm
‘It is the responsibility of the social worker to make
clear to children and families how the assessment will
be carried out and when they can expect a decision on
next steps’(p24)
‘Response to a referral: the child and family must be
informed of the action to be taken’ (p26)
‘Social worker to see the child’ (p36)
30 major police operations (plus)
There are currently over 30 police operations
regarding child sexual abuse across England and
Wales. These include historic (non-recent)
abuse cases and cases such as Elm Guest House
in Barnes.
Yewtree: Numbers of enquiries: hospitals, BBC,
police Savile, Savile and others and others.
No national coordination or National Multi agency team. The people who join the jots are
journalists!
The media as an ally
The media is an effective way of protecting
children. It works. Often it is all we have
A free press is essential to a democratic society:
it is currently under attack. Supportive, brave
journalists are frightened to investigate child
abuse. It has become dangerous for everyone
involved.
• Look beyond usual media sources
• Work with trusted journalists
Social Media
• Spotlightonabuse.wordpress.com
• Exaro news
Focus on single issues
Individual cases of survivors (Teresa Cooper, Phil Frampton),
professional whistleblowers (Nevres Kemal)
Government policy: reduction of statutory guidance, databases,
minimisation of police role, deprofessionalisation,
deregulation, privatisation etc.
Exposure of child abuse scandals (Islington, Jersey)
Exposing global industry of organised crime against
children(illegal adoption trade, missing children, trafficking,
abusive images etc)
Challenge and critique of government reviews of child
protection (Laming, Munro, Savile)
Exposing the role of business interests in the world of children
(pharmaceutical companies (GSK), private children’s homes
(Sedgemoor). Children’s services
Islington:extensive abuse of
children in care homes
From 1992 - over 150 newsprint articles on the
abuse of children within the Islington care
system: Each of 13 inquiries followed
disclosure in the media.
Survivors were involved throughout alongside
whistleblowing social workers
Islington Inquiry report 1995
- a social worker identified 61 young people –
victims of abuse but police said there was no
evidence of a network
- No evidence of ritual abuse
‘ an extraordinary and horrifying story’ Ken
Loach, film director.
Savile Inquiry Report: ‘no clear evidence he
operated in a paedophile ring’ 214 crimes, 34
of rape from 1955-2009.
Demetrious Panton: in ‘care’ of Islington council from age 10
years.
Minister for Children, Margaret Hodge, described him as
‘disturbed’. Now Steve Meesham(North Wales Bryn Alyn)
being vilified as having unreliable evidence with regard to the
unnamed ‘Government Minister’.
Connections
'I have known about Jersey paedophiles for 15 years,'
says award-winning journalist Eileen Fairweather
02.03.2008
Baby P relative implicated in child sex ring 14.12.2008
Sunday Times
Baby P’s close relative linked to a big paedophile
network. 15.11.2008 Daily Mail
Tabloids and Broadsheets: Nick Davies ‘ Flat Earth
News’ Churnalism: ‘If you can sell it we tell it’
JERSEY 14 x 8 km
Population only 91,000
Haut de la Garenne - Jersey children’s home until 1986. 1000 children lived
there between the 50s and 80s. Police investigation found remains of 5
children, over 100 children’s bones and 4 punishment rooms. 169 adult
survivors informed homicide (but not child protection) investigation. Political
suppression, imprisonment of key supportive politician. Redress Board.
Gorey Bay and castle
Jersey care leavers: 160 stories untold: media
provided a voice
UK children sent to Jersey
But
No UK based child protection
investigation
The stone bath : police dug into the cellar and found this as
survivors had described.(Similar in Whitby re Savile. Similar in
other places in London)
The bunker
Jersey Opera House
Police investigator : Lenny Harper:
I can quite clearly say that the investigation is
being held up. There are people on the island
who just don't want us going down the route of
this inquiry"
Stuart Syvret: imprisoned
•
•
•
•
Jersey Careleavers: facebook
Ricosorda.blogspot.com
voiceforchildren.blogspot.com
Stuartsyvret.blogspot.com
Savile at Haut de la Garenne
NEVRES KEMAL : Because we're good people, and we do a
very good job, and someone has to do it
Social worker prevented from investigating case of sexual abuse
of 7 young children
She gained a voice in the media but has no work
If they had listened to my
concerns and taken
measures to rectify them
Baby Peter might never
have died. I’ve had four
years of hell and disbelief,
words cannot express what
I have been through but it’s
all irrelevant – a boy has
died.
‘A passion to help improve the lives of children and learners’
Trustee : Paul Blackburn : Glaxo Smith Kline vice president
Phil Frampton - research
Liz Davies: Comment piece:
‘Real experience should have
been reflected in Ofsted
appointments’
Guardian:12.06.08
Eileen Fairweather in Mail
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article1034578/Ofsted-tells-Glaxo-executivequit-board-clash-interest.html
Link with vaccine contracts to schools
Resignation in 2 weeks.
Financial Times comment re
corporate appointments.
MASH: Multi agency safeguarding hubs: Working Together at point of
intake. Probation omitted and criminal justice system represented by
YOT only. Child Abuse Investigation Teams also omitted whose focus is
child victims.
SCANDANAVIA:BARNAHUS: Children’s House
A children’s rights model under one roof: proactive child
protection
Iceland 1998,22 in Sweden, 1 in Denmark, 7 in Norway.
Development in Finland and Greenland
Multi agency child protection system involving police,
social workers, health and education professionals,
prosecutors and therapists. Focus on justice as well as
the protection of children
Children do not have to present in court
The system applies also to children under age 15 who
have offended
Survivor accounts
Cooper T (2008) Trust No One. London. Orion
Frampton P (2004) The Golly in the Cupboard. Manchester. Tamic
Margaret Humphreys (2011) Oranges and Sunshine. Empty Cradles. London.
Corgi (now a movie)
O’Gorman C (2010) Beyond belief. Hodder
Whelan D (2010) No more silence. London. Harper Element
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKsD-VzZlZk
Keeble H (2010) Baby X. London Pocket Books
Keeble H (2011) Little Victim. London Simon and Schuster
Recent links
http://www.rte.ie/player/#!v=1115764
Use of babies in ireland for drugs trials
http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/news/world-us-canada-15288865
Child protection ‚ family support‘ policy in the US and consequences
Against child trafficking: Roelie Post ( 2007) The untold story of the romanian
orphanages .Eurocomment. www.againstchildtrafficking.org
spotlightonabuse.wordpress.com/
Many dvds on this website including ‚‘the secret life of paedophiles‘ The Peter
Righton story
www.exaronews.com
News website covering current organised abuse issues
Davies L and Duckett N (2009)