The avaliable UK evidence on the extent of abuse among disabled children suggests that disabled children are at increased risk of abuse, and that the presence of multiple disabilities appears to increase the risk of abuse, and that the presence of multiple disabilities appears to increase the risk of both abuse and neglect. Disabled children may be especially vulnerable to abuse for a number of reasons:
* many disabled children are at an increased likelihood of being socially isolated with fewer outside contacts than non disabled children;
* their dependency on parents and carers for practical assistance in daily living, including intimate personal care, increases their risk of exposure to abusive behaviour;
* they have impaired capacity to resist or avoid abuse;
* they may have speech, language and communication needs which may make it difficult to tell others what is happening;
* they often do not have access to someone they can trust to disclose that they have been abused; and/ or
* they are especially vulnerable to bullying and intimidation.
Looked after disabled children are not only vulnerable to the same factors that exist for all children living away from home, but are particularly susceptible to possible abuse because of their additional dependency on residential and hospital staff for day to day physical care needs.
Safeguards for disabled children are essentially the same as for non- disabled children. Particular attention should be paid to promoting a high level of awareness of the risks of harm and high standards of practice, and strenthening the capacityof children and families to help themselves. Measures should include:
* making it common practice to help disabled children make their wishes and feelings known in respect to their care and treatment;
* ensuring that disabled children receive appropriate personal, health and social education ( including sex education);
* making sure that all disabled children know how to raise concerns, and giving them access to a range of adults with whom they can communicate. Those disabled children with communication impairments should have avaliable to them at all times a means of being heard;
* an explicit commitment to, and understanding of disabled children's safety and welfare among providers of services used by disabled children;
* close contact with families, and a culture of openess on the part of services;
* guidelines and training for staff on good practice in intimate care; working with children of the opposite sex; handling difficult behaviour; consent to treatment; anti bullying strategies; and sexuality and sexual behaviour among young people, especially those living away from home; and
* guidlines and training for staff working with disabled children aged 16 and overto ensure that decisions about disabled children who lack capacity will be governed by the Mental Health Capacity Act once they reach the age of 16.
Where a disabled child has communication impairments or learning disabilities, special attention should be paid to communication needs, and to ascertain the child's perception of events, and his or her wishes and feelings. In every area, children's services and the police should be aware of non-verbal communication systems, when they might be useful and how to access them, and should know how to contact suitable interpreters or facilitators. Agencies should not make assumptions about the inability of a disabled child to give credible evidence, or to withstand the rigours of the court process. Each child should be assessed carefully, and helped and supported to participate in the criminal justice process when this is in the child's best interests of justice.
This information has been taken from Working Together to Safeguard Children 2010.
