Best Practice

Safeguarding against child abuse: The ‘art’ of listening

It can take years before a child will disclose abuse, so spotting any early signs is vital. Safeguarding expert Sam Preston explains what to look out for and how to start a conversation when you have concerns

Child abuse: a distressing topic that’s never easy to talk about, even as teaching professionals tasked with its identification and intervention. However, for the children and young people who are victims of abuse, trusting and telling an adult, can be one of the hardest things they’ll ever do.

Over the years, it has become assumed that young people who experience abuse, don’t talk about it. However, recent research shows us that children do disclose. The big question we must ask ourselves as practitioners, is: are we accurately listening?

Research from the NSPCC estimates that it takes seven years on average for children and young people to disclose sexual abuse, so how can we ensure that we do not miss opportunities for intervention? To do this, we need to pay attention not only to what the child says, but also to what is not said.

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