Child Protection Guidance 2021

Part 4: Specific support needs and concerns 159 National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland 2021 Version 1.0 September 2021 4.172 What a child needs when trying to share or signal an abusive experience for the first time is likely to depend on age, understanding and context. It may depend on whether the child is in a state of crisis or acute fear, or whether it has become possible at that moment because the intuitive or learned sense of safety with the other person provides enough containment to allow painful experience to be shared. 4.173 Most children need to know they have been heard and that how they feel has been recognised by someone who has remained quiet and calm and has not suggested details or judged actions. Sometimes this may include hearing confused feelings about the abuser. In most situations the child will need to know that the listener cares for them and will help to keep them safe, but cannot keep secrets that are harmful to the child (or to others), and will have to talk to someone else about how best to help. The person first hearing or recognising the abuse can help by keeping the door open for the child to talk further. The child may need support in getting through the rest of the day or night and then over time as feelings of fear and exposure can rise. They may need to feel they are not alone, that there are people who will listen and help, and that there are also people who do not need to know. 4.174 Indicators of abuse of a child may be physical, behavioural, social or psychosomatic. For example, they could include a combination of: concerning changes in behaviour at home or in school; avoidance of an adult; sexually inappropriate behaviour; health anxieties such as soreness in the genital and anal areas; sexually transmitted infections; pregnancy; and other indirect signals of anxiety. These may include feelings of isolation, stigma and difficulty in trusting others; sexualised behaviour, low self-esteem, withdrawal, aggression and disruptive behaviours; self-destructive behaviours and/or substance abuse. None of these examples are in themselves signs of sexual abuse. All necessitate professional curiosity about what lies behind these symptoms. 4.175 Contextual considerations. Practitioners involved in assessment, planning and intervention should consider the dimensions of risk and safety/protection ‘online’, in the family, and in the community. There may be a concentration of risk in specific locations. 4.176 Investigative components and processes when there is a concern about risk of significant harm are outlined in Part 3 of this Guidance. They should be co‑ordinated and multi-disciplinary. When required, joint investigative interviewing will be carefully planned and trauma-informed. The national approach will be supported in forthcoming revised guidance. The Scottish Government’s exploration of the child-centred Barnahus approach is also referenced in Part 3. 4.177 All practitioners should be trauma-aware. There must also be recognition that the process of sharing may not be a neat single event. Detail or experience may be released in fragments, at times, in a manner, and with persons determined by the child. 4.178 There is no single cause or explanation for the occurrence of child sexual abuse (CSA). The internet is a powerful vector for the development of the demand for sexual images of children and for sex with children. Perpetrators have often experienced traumatic maltreatment themselves as children. Some but not all are sexually fixated on children. Confused boundaries and parental use of alcohol or drugs can contribute to an environment in which multiple harms occur. Young children and children with disabilities may be particularly targeted by predators.