Review on national systems Review on national systems of statisticsof statistics

and registration on and registration on child child abuseabuse

First draft Florence, December 2004

Two major areas of interest

1. the institutional framework

2. the data systems on child abuse

Critical aspects for Critical aspects for

comparative analysis of datacomparative analysis of data 1. the definition of the phenomenon 2. the structure and tools of data collection 3. the population considered (crimes

reported, children referred to social services, persons denounced as author of crime, etc.)

4. the time schedule of gathering (How frequently the information is gathered?)

5. the sources of data (police, health sector, social services, etc.)

Report based on questionnaires compiled by:

Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Slovak Republic, Spain

A. INSTITUTIONAL A. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKFRAMEWORK

The Social Sector is the principal institutional context holding specific responsibilities for addressing the issue of violence against children

In nine countries on the thirteen which answered to questionnaire, there are bodies in charge to promote and defend the rights of children

Only two countries answered that they have specialized structures to address the issue of violence against children

A. INSTITUTIONAL A. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKFRAMEWORK

Is there a legal obligation to report cases of suspected “child abuse” ?

In almost all countries the law states an obligations to refer to judicial or public authorities a situation of child abuse

The formulation of law doesn’t mean a legal obligation in Belgium and in United Kingdom

The legal obligation can be on all citizens and/or on all the professionals working with children

The Police and Social services are, as expected, the main addressees of the report by citizens and professionals

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7

73

3

Police

Social services

Special agency

Attorney general

Courts

Other bodies providingassistance

To whom professionals must report?

B. DATA ON CHILD ABUSEB. DATA ON CHILD ABUSE B.1. 1 National systems of

statistics on child abuse Main Sectors of data collection

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1

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Judicial Sector Health Sector Social Sector

National Registry of those National Registry of those convicted of sexual offences convicted of sexual offences

against childrenagainst children Ireland: Registry of sexual offenders -

kept by the National Police Force ( Gardaí Siochana). Set up under the Sex Offenders Act, 2001

Austria: the official statistics of judgments (Gerichtsstatistik) - kept by the Ministry of Justice.

United Kingdom: Sex Offenders Register – kept by the Home Office. Established in the late 1990s and is governed by the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

B. DATA ON CHILD ABUSEB. DATA ON CHILD ABUSE B.2. National system of registration

of child abuse Only two countries have Registration system,

that is a system of recording each case of child abuse to be referred to a specific body or service or institution at a local level:

United Kingdom - national authority tasked with managing the system is the Department of Health and Personal Social Services, at a decentralized level the responsibility relies on local authority

Ireland - national authority is the Department of Health and Children, at local level eight health boards at local level

United KingdomUnited Kingdom

CHILD PROTECTION REGISTER…we will have a presentation

Ireland Ireland National authority tasked with managing

the system of child abuse registration: the Department of Health and Children

Local authorities: the eight health boards The system covers all the national territory Main aim: to target areas for concern and

funding “Children First Guidelines” defines the

standard reporting form for each case Annual reporting from the Health Boards

using the Interim Dataset , which guarantees a standard reporting form for assembling all data at national level.

Confirmed abuse

confirmed non-abuse/ unfounded

inconclusive assessment

assessment on-going

Physical Abuse

Emotional abuse

Neglect

Sexual Abuse

Typologies and categories - Ireland

Netherlands – A regional exampleRegional child and youth care services and

provincial authorities collect systematically since 2001 data regarding the state of children, including the aspects connected to child abuse.

The database is kept by the regional child and youth care services where the 15 the provincial Advice and Reporting Centres for Child Abuse and Neglect (ARCAN) resides.

Each ARCAN uses the same system of registration with its guidelines for registration.

Twice a year some of the data is collected for the provincial authorities, and once a year the NIZW reports some of the data on a national level.

 

Common characteristics of Common characteristics of Registration systemRegistration systemss

Strong decentralisation in gathering and assembling data

Common definition for each form of child abuse

Interinstitutional agreement on the procedures for reporting

Clear guidelines for reporting and registration

Use of a standard form for the registration of each case

Implementation of mechanisms for the control of duplications

Some conclusionsSome conclusions ??

This review represents an initial step for further research in this field.

The results indicate the requirement to go further in collecting the data today available.

For the proposal let us to listen to the conclusions of yesterday’s working group.

Thank you!