As a second chairwoman resigns from the UK government’s inquiry into historic child abuse allegations, it’s clear that questions need to be asked about who should lead this investigation and what its remit…
Over half of Australia’s imported goods come from the Asia Pacific, which has 78 million child labourers, including these three in a Bangladesh balloon factory.
EPA/Abir Abdhullah
The fragmentation of global production has dramatically increased the length and complexity of supply chains. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that more than…
Many Indigenous families fear the welfare system.
AAP Image/Neda Vanovac
In some jurisdictions of Australia, the rate of Indigenous children in foster, kinship and residential care on any one night has reached almost one in ten. This rate is almost ten times higher than non-Aboriginal…
Foster parents often receive inadequate emotional and financial support.
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When children are deemed at risk of abuse or neglect and are removed from the family home, they are placed in out-of-home care, either with foster parents, relatives or in residential facilities. The latter…
People with complex trauma appear like they are always anticipating or responding to a threat.
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Experiencing trauma has significant implications for mental health. We’ve known this for some time but particularly since the early 1970s after observing and studying the effects of war on American servicemen…
Some images are illegal even to see, an online crime scene.
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A cartoon can land you in court, as happened to a man recently convicted of possessing non-photographic images – cartoons, drawings – of a sexual nature featuring children. Clearly child pornography, more…
Adrian Peterson has been indicted for injury to a child.
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US sports continue to struggle with the controversies surrounding Ray Rice’s domestic violence case, and the arrest of Slava Voynov on suspicion of domestic violence. But what has not been a matter of…
Child protection is everyone’s responsibility.
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The recent string of major child sexual assault scandals, in Australia and other countries, can create a feeling of disgust and an urge to look away from an ugly reality. Yet we must confront and take…
Four-year-old Chloe Valentine sustained injuries and died after being made to ride and repeatedly crash her 50-kilogram motorbike.
AAP Image/South Australian Supreme Court
The tragic death of four-year old Chloe Valentine in South Australia has raised concerns that the state’s child protection system is in crisis. Following a history of abuse and neglect, Chloe’s mother…
Fiona Woolf’s first appearance before the Home Affairs Committee as Chair of the independent inquiry into historical child sexual abuse provided some useful, albeit minimal, information on what work she…
Reports of child abuse related to accusations of witchcraft are on the rise in London, with 27 allegations made to the Metropolitan Police in the past year and 148 cases since 2004. Yet the people charged…
Can the judicial process be more sensitive?
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Anyone involved in the criminal justice system will agree that one of the most challenging tasks an advocate can ever face is to prosecute or defend an individual or group accused of sexual offences. The…
Children in state care need stability in their home and school life to develop social attachments and a sense of belonging.
Wikimedia/Ranveig
Children who have been taken into state care need timely decisions on whether to separate them from their birth families. Delayed decisions means leaving children who have suffered abuse and neglect in…
Violence that happens behind closed doors and within families is finally being recognised as a crime – not just a “domestic”.
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She showed me the cigarette burns on her arms. Her eyes seemed empty as she slumped in the chair, answering questions with defeated shrugs. Finally she explained that her stepfather had held her down and…
Rotherham’s reputation will now precede it.
Lynne Cameron/PA
Rotherham Metropolitan Council has released its independent report on the handling of child sexual exploitation cases in the borough between 1997 and 2013. The author of the report, Professor Alexis Jay…
Tensions are running high in Rotherham.
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The revelations from a year-long inquiry into the sexual exploitation of children in Rotherham serve to highlight issues that are both distressing and important. At the same time, they also emphasise the…
Rotherham Council chief executive Martin Kimber presents a review into abuse in his area.
Dave Higgens/PA Wire/Press Association Images
The confirmation that 1,400 children were subjected to sexual exploitation over a 16 year period in Rotherham forms part of a wider picture of similar events. The Catholic Church has still not worked out…
Men and boys’ vulnerability to exploitation is just beginning to be understood.
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Sexual abuse of children has been in the news in recent months; the coverage of a devastating report on the abuse of at least 1,400 children in Rotherham over a number of years, in the face of official…
The National Crime Agency recently reported the successful arrest of 660 “suspected paedophiles” who had accessed indecent images of children online, following a six-month investigation. The large volume…