Equality and Human Rights
Screening Template
The Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland (SBNI) is required to address the 4 questions below in relation to all its policies. This template sets out a proforma to document consideration of each question.
For advice & support on screening contact:
Sandra Rafferty
Equality Unit
Business Services Organisation
2 Franklin Street
Belfast BT2 8DQ
028 95363813
email:
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SCREENING TEMPLATE
See Guidance Notes for further information on the ‘why’ ‘what’ ‘when’, and ‘who’ in relation to screening, for background information on the relevant legislation and for help in answering the questions on this template.
(1) INFORMATION ABOUT THE POLICY OR DECISION
1.1 Title of policy or decisionSAFEGUARDING IN SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES – CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION (CSE).
1.2 Description of policy or decision
· what is it trying to achieve? (aims and objectives)
· how will this be achieved? (key elements)
· what are the key constraints? (for example financial, legislative or other)
This document sets out the policy and procedures for staff and volunteers to follow in relation to CSE. It replaces the policy and procedures outlined in Chapter 9 of the Regional Child Protection Policy and Procedures April 2005, paragraph 9.72 to 9.92 and the Interim Guidance on Child Sexual Exploitation issued by the Health and Social Care Board in October 2014. The document also complements and is informed by the Guidance document entitled ‘Child Sexual Exploitation: Information for Professionals’, SBNI 2014, written in conjunction with CSE Knowledge Transfer Partnership NI. Staff/professionals/volunteers concerned about Child Sexual Exploitation are expected to follow the policy and procedures outlined within this document.
1.3 Main stakeholders affected (internal and external)
For example staff, actual or potential service users, other public sector organisations, voluntary and community groups, trade unions or professional organisations or private sector organisations or others
These policy and procedures are aimed at all SBNI member agencies and other staff/volunteers in other agencies who come into contact with children and families and/or who have information in regard to children and families in relation to CSE. Safeguarding and protecting children and young people from child sexual abuse is the responsibility of every individual in Northern Ireland across all disciplines and sectors.
1.4 Other policies or decisions with a bearing on this policy or decision
· what are they?
· who owns them?
These policy and procedures have been informed by the following:
· The SBNI Strategic Priorities which through its engagement process with professionals, Agencies and children and young people identified CSE as an issue which the SBNI needed to prioritise.
· Guidance document entitled ‘Child Sexual Exploitation: Information for Professionals’, SBNI 2014, written in conjunction with CSE Knowledge Transfer Partnership NI.
· Interim Guidance on Child Sexual Exploitation issued by the Health and Social Care Board October 2014.
· Regional Guidance on PSNI Involvement in Residential Units – Safeguarding Children Missing From Home and Foster Care (2012)
· ‘The Protocol for Joint Investigation by Police Officers and Social Workers of Alleged and Suspected Cases of Child Abuse – Northern Ireland’ (2013)
· ‘Meeting the Accommodation and Support Needs on 16-21 year olds, Regional Good Practice Guidance’
· Protecting Looked After Children Guidance
· CEOP Threat Assessment of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, June 2013
· DENI-Pastoral Care in School Policy
(2) CONSIDERATION OF EQUALITY AND GOOD RELATIONS ISSUES AND EVIDENCE USED
2.1 Data gathering
What information did you use to inform this equality screening? For example previous consultations, statistics, research, Equality Impact Assessments (EQIAs), complaints. Provide details of how you involved stakeholders, views of colleagues, service users, staff side or other stakeholders.
· www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/140175· The Child Sexual Exploitation in Northern Ireland Report of the Independent Inquiry Professor Kathleen Marshall
· https://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/resourcesforprofessionals/sexualabuse/cse-homepage_wda97456.html
· www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2015/2/pdfs/nia_20150002_en.pdf
· The Rowan NI Annual Report 2013 - 2014
· “I thought I was the only one. The only one in the world”. The Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation In Gangs and Groups Interim report, November 2012
· ‘Not a world away’, the sexual exploitation of children and young people in Northern Ireland, Barnardo’s 2011
· The sexual exploitation of children: it couldn’t happen here, could it? OFSTED Report
· Barter, C. McCarry, M., Berridge, D and Evans, K. (2009). Partner exploitation and violence in teenage intimate relationships. NSPCC, London.
· Barnardo’s (2014) Hidden in Plain Sight. A scoping study into the sexual exploitation of boys and young men in the UK. Policy Briefing London: Barnardo’s, UCL and Natcen
· End Violence Against Women and YouGov, (2010) Sexual Harassment in UK Schools Poll, London: EVAW
· Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Census Data 2011
· HSSPS Children’s Social Care Statistics for Northern Ireland.
· Translating Learning into Action: An overview arising from CMRs in Northern Ireland 03 – 08 Devaney et al
· “I thought I was the only one. The only one in the world”. The Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation In Gangs and Groups Interim report, November 2012
· ‘Not a world away’, the sexual exploitation of children and young people in Northern Ireland, Barnardo’s 2011
· A qualitative study of children, young people and ‘sexting’ - A report prepared for the NSPCC 2012
· Children’s commissioner for Children and Young People in England, “If only someone had listened”.
· The Needs of young people in NI Youthnet.)
· Electoral Office Northern Ireland.
· http://www.nspcc.org.uk/Inform/resourcesforprofessionals/sexualabuse/sexting-research-report_wdf89269.pdf
· http://www.iwf.org.uk/resources/trends#1
· The Young Life and Times Survey (www.ark.ac.uk/ylt/2007/
· The Prevalence of ASD (including Asperger’s syndrome) in School Age Children in Northern Ireland.
· Draft Sexual Orientation Strategy published in 2006.
2.2 Quantitative Data
Who is affected by the policy or decision? Please provide a statistical profile. Note if policy affects both staff and service users, please provide profile for both.
Category / What is the makeup of the affected group? ( %) Are there any issues or problems? For example, a lower uptake that needs to be addressed or greater involvement of a particular group?Gender / The SBNI Policy and Procedures on Child Sexual Exploitation has been informed by research available and Inquiries which have been undertaken into the issue of CSE. It has been informed by the SBNI Strategic Priorities. An Equality Screening was already undertaken in relation to the Strategic Priorities and was consulted on in terms of what should be prioritised by the SBNI which included engagement with children and young people. Information has been taken from this process. However, some of the statistical information has been updated.
General Population Data
NI Population Statistics (2011 Census Data)
Population of Northern Ireland in 2011 was 1,810,863
Male = 49% Female = 51%
Children (Aged 0-17): 430,763 (24%)
Adults (Aged 18-64): 1,116,380 (62%)
Older People: (Aged 65+): 263,720 (14%)
Sexual Offences reported by the PSNI indicate that over half of victims of sexual offences in Northern Ireland are under18.
A Childline Survey found that 6/10 13-18 year olds have been asked for a sexual image/video of themselves and 4/10 have created one.
Children In Need (DHSSPS October 14)
At 31 March 2014, 25,998 children in Northern Ireland were known to Social Services as a Child in Need. The number of Children in Need in 2014 was 6% higher than in 2013 when there were 24,473 Children in Need. This increase was mainly down to a rise in the number of Children in Need in the Belfast HSC Trust. For all the other Trusts the number of Children in Need was similar in 2014 to that in 2013. A higher proportion were male than female (53% and 47% respectively). This gap was slightly larger than the gender split in the child population in general, with 51% male and 49% female under 18 years of age
Child Protection (DHSSPS January – March 2015)
At 31 March 2015, 1,969 children were listed on the Child Protection Register in Northern Ireland. This represented 45.6 children per 10,000 population under 18 years of age. This represents a 2% increase on the previous quarter. Of the 1,914 children on the register, 51% were boys and 49% were girls, the same as the gender split in the general children’s population.
The 1,969 children on the Child Protection Register at 31 March 2015 represents a 3% rise from the previous year March 2014.
Over 80% of the children were on the register due to physical abuse, neglect or a combination of physical abuse and neglect;
Looked After Children (DHSSPS October 14)
At 31 March 2014, 2,858 children were looked after in Northern Ireland. This was the highest recorded number of looked after children since the introduction of the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, representing 66.2 children per 10,000 of the child population. The number of looked after children in Northern Ireland has risen by 14% since 2011 and by 23% since 1999 when the lowest number of looked after children was recorded under the 1995 Children Order legislation. The number of looked after children at 31 March 2014 was 2% higher than at the same time the previous year (2,807). Of those children looked after at 31 March 2014, a slightly higher proportion were male than female (51% and 49% respectively). This was the same as the gender split in the general children’s population. Looking at the gender splits within the HSC Trusts, it was only the Belfast HSC Trust that had a noteworthy difference between its male and female looked after population (55% and 45% respectively)
Information accessed from:
http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/statistics/socialcare/children-in-need.htm
Of the 520 referrals to the Rowan Centre, The Sexual Assault Referral Centre, Northern Ireland from 2013 - 2014 Annual Report, 41% related to under 18. Across all age groups 14% were male. Males were mostly under 13, especially under 9. The service is not receiving many cases of adolescent males experiencing CSE.
Barnardo’s NI Safe Choices project reports that male users of their service amount to between 8-10%.
Barter et al found that 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 6 boys experience sexual violence in intimate peer relationships.
In relation to ‘Sexting’ a survey by ChildLine found that 6/10 13-18 year olds have been asked for a sexual image/video of themselves and have created one.
NSPCC research into sexting were distressed at the level of sexist abuse and physical harassment-even violence- to which girls were subjected to on a regular basis in school which was taken for granted
The EVAW coalition found that 29% of girls have been subjected to unwanted sexual touching at school (788 16-18 year olds).
Barnardo’s (2014) ‘Hidden in Plain Sight’: a Scoping Study into the Sexual Exploitation of Boys and Young Men in the UK, over a period of 10 months across England, Scotland and NI found that of the 9,042 Barnardo’s cases analysed, 33 % were male service users (variations across services, range from 5% - 57%).
Male service users were 2.6 x more likely to have a recorded disability than female service users (35% males and 13% females had a recorded disability). 48% of male service users and 28% of female service users had a criminal record. 18% of male service users were LAC. 80% of males referred to the services were referred due to going missing.
Age / General Population Data
NI Population Statistics
Children
Less than 1 = 25,250 (6%)
1 - 4 = 99,132 (23%)
5 - 11 = 156,740 (36%)
12 – 15 = 98,201 (23%)
16-17 = 51,440 (12%)
Total children (0 – 17) = 430,763 (24% of the population)
Children in Need (DHSSPS Oct 2014)
At 31 March 2014, 25,998 children in Northern Ireland were known to Social Services as a Child in Need. More males were known. The higher proportion of male Children in Need was most evident, across all the HSC Trusts, in the age groups 5-11 and 12-15, whereas less evident amongst the younger children and those aged 16 and over
Child Protection (DHSSPS January 2015-March 2015)
At the end of 31st March 2015 there were 1,016 child protection referrals in Northern Ireland. There were 23.5 child protection referrals per 10,000 of the population under 18 years during the quarter ending 31 March 2015, compared to 25.3 during quarter ending 31 December 2014. The South Eastern HSC Trust received the highest number of child protection referrals and the Northern HSC Trust the lowest.
Of the 1,969 children listed on the Child Protection Register the age distribution on the register was - 11% of children on the register were aged under one year, 26% were aged 1-4 years, 38% were 5-11 years, 19% were 12-15 years and 5% were aged 16 or
over at 31 March 2015.. The age 0-11 years represented 9% which is higher than the Northern Ireland population for that group. This indicates that the Child Protection population was younger than would be expected when looking at the general population. There were some variations across HSC Trusts with 1% ofthe population on the Register in the Belfast HSC Trust aged 16 and over compared to 6% in the Northern, South Eastern and Southern HSC Trusts.
Looked After Children (DHSSPS Oct 2014)
At 31 March 2014, 2,858 children were looked after in Northern Ireland. The rise in numbers of looked after children can partly be attributed to recent legal judgements in relation to young people age 16–17 years who present as homeless and are then taken into care, this group accounted for 10% of admissions to the Western HSC Trust during the year.
The looked after children had an older age profile compared with the general child population in Northern Ireland; 44% of the looked after population were aged 12 years and over whereas 33% of the general child population were in this age group.
Information accessed from:
http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/statistics/socialcare/children-in-need.htm
The Life and Times Survey found that 1 in 9 16 year olds have experienced an adult trying to groom them. 1 in 15 16 year olds have been given substances and taken advantage of sexually while under the influence of substances.
The Rotherham Report reviewed for a period of 16 years between 1997-2013. The report stated that no one knows the true scale of CSE in Rotherham over the years. A conservative estimate is that approximately 1400 children were sexually exploited over the full Inquiry period.