Isle of Anglesey County Council

There are different types of child abuse. If you are in any doubt you can ask the duty social worker for advice.

The following are examples of abuse, but you may see other signs:

• physical injury - such as hitting, shaking, punching and kicking
• neglect - not being properly fed, clothed or medical needs not being met
• emotional abuse - when a child is starved of love and affection, or is constantly criticised, humiliated or bullied
• sexual abuse - including inappropriate sexual behaviour, language or assault

Any child up to the age of 18 can be protected by law. The Wales Safeguarding Procedures 2019 must be followed.

If you have any concerns about someone who has reached the age of 18 they may be eligible for protection as an adult at risk of abuse or harm.

For advice on adults at risk you should contact the Single Point of Access on 01248 752 752.

Phone a social worker on the number at the right-hand side of this page.

A member of the public can report abuse anonymously (although professionals cannot).

However, it is always more helpful to the investigating social worker if he or she knows where the information has come from.

If you are worried about any comeback, you can give your name and address to the duty social worker but ask that your identity isn’t passed on to the family.

Social workers always try and keep the family informed as much as possible, both to be fair to them and because experience has shown that this leads to better outcomes for the child.

If you feel able to tell parents that you are concerned enough about the child to ring a social worker, it can help everyone to work together in the interests of the child.

Don’t feel that you are wasting people’s time if you ask for advice about anything you have seen or heard.

The social worker’s job is to assess the information they are given and answer any related queries, however small.

You can ring the duty social worker and discuss your concerns.

It may be that they won’t act immediately on your information but will keep a record of it, so that if someone else rings in the future they will know that you have already had concerns.

Similarly, they may have a record of earlier phone calls from other people which, together with your information, will give a picture of a child likely to be suffering harm.

Sometimes it can be very hard to believe that people do terrible things to children. Even experienced social workers come across situations that they find difficult to believe.

Many adults who abuse children are liked and respected by people around them, so that people who learn that they have been ill-treating children feel that they must be mistaken. In this situation, if you stay silent you are protecting the abuser but not the child.

Social workers try wherever possible to keep children at home with their families.

In England and Wales, only about 5% of children who are given protection under the official procedures are removed from home. The rest are supported at home and given protection through a multi agency Care and Protection Plan.

Occasionally the situation is thought to be so unsafe that children are removed and placed with another family.

Wherever possible, this will be a relative or other person that the children already know, who is willing to look after them.

Only if this is not possible will they go to live with foster carers, who are approved and trained to carry out their role. Even then, the parents will continue to see the children unless it is thought that this is likely to be dangerous.

Everyone working with children and families should be familiar with their organisation’s policies and procedures to safeguard children, including which individual they should notify if they have any concerns.

This is likely to be their line manager or a designated person with responsibility for child protection. This person will usually be responsible for referring concerns on to the social work team.

Some organisations, such as health trusts, expect all professionals to act on their own initiative and refer concerns directly to the social work team. Everyone should know the procedure in their own organisation before the need arises to report abuse or neglect.

Whether or not your organisation has its own policy, all professionals must follow the Wales Safeguarding Procedures 2019.