International safeguarding practice

I qualified as a social worker in 1996 and would often use my knowledge of child protection law and the Children Act 1989 when working with families who returned to their home countries where we would liaise with international social services. They were moderately receptive to taking on the referral and contact the family once they arrived back in their country of origin, depending on the concern.

Accepting a role as a school-based social worker in the UK in 1999 was the start of a 24-year career specialising in safeguarding in education. I worked with families from diverse communities from across the world, both settled or newly arrived in the UK, and in 2008, I was invited to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to deliver whole-staff child protection training and safeguarding training to the leadership team.

TRAINING IN DUBAI

At the time, there were not prohibitive laws in place to protect children in the UAE and Dubai had only recently stopped using children as jockeys for camel racing. Child abuse was a taboo subject in Dubai especially to the locals and the international professional communities working in these schools. The Dubai culture was very strong and embedded with tradition. Islam is the official religion and Arabic the official language.

In preparing to deliver the international training I created the materials from scratch – I had been the local safeguarding board trainer since 2003 and safeguarding adviser to schools including managing a team of school social workers.

Cultural competence was key in this delivery. I undertook a few months of research and worked closely with the agency that approached me for the role to produce materials that were respectful to all and would not cause offence. For example, the UAE has no legal age of consent because marriage is legally required before sexual intercourse is allowed. Delivering child protection training and discussing categories of abuse – physical, emotional, neglect and sexual – was expected in the delivery but also managed sensitively. Talking about sexual abuse of children was taboo at the time, but the introduction of adults harming children in this way was even more taboo.

The training ran over four days, and all staff in the setting attended. For some, it was the first time they had been to a training session about child abuse and the need to protect children. Statistics indicated there were likely to be adults in the session that had been subject to forms of abuse. The training was delivered delicately with layers of health warnings, signposting for help and safe spaces to talk. A few adult survivors of abuse spoke to me at the end, and I listened and praised them for speaking out.

Years later, it was reassuring to learn that child protection law in the UAE “Wadeema's law” was introduced.

In 2012, an eight-year-old girl's body was found wrapped in white cloth and buried in the desert in Al Badayer, in the UAE. The body was of Wadeema, who was regularly tortured by her father and his girlfriend between 2011 and 2012. The couple were arrested after her paternal uncle visited their home when Wadeema and her sister were reported absent from school. Both girls were being tortured and Wadeema died. In 2013, the couple were found guilty of torturing both girls and causing Wadeema's death.

In June 2016, the new UAE Federal Law No 3. was introduced, called Wadeema's Law. This was made to protect children against all forms of negligence, exploitation, physical, psychological, neglect and sexual abuse.

After Wadeema's Law was embedded, conversation about child protection in the UAE became widespread, and the reporting of child abuse to the police or children's services authorities was introduced.

Over the following years, I received invites to visit Portugal, Egypt, Singapore, Japan, Armenia, Monaco, Jamaica, and Texas. This included speaking at conferences, undertaking safeguarding audits, and delivering child protection and safer recruitment training.

International safeguarding varies from country to country. All countries are signed up to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, excluding the USA. A reactive approach to child abuse is common in most countries. A few countries, for example England, have raised awareness through national campaigns, TV and radio adverts, and teaching child safety through the school curriculum.

Every country has a children's social care service, social workers, and police officers, and government-run orphanages or children's residential homes. Every country has non-governmental organisations that raise awareness of abuse against women and girls, violence against children and child abuse.

KEY CHALLENGES

Culture, tradition, social norms, language, and community varies across the world in states, regions, and continents.

Child abuse does not discriminate and can happen to any child in any country from any person, adult or child. Internationally this conversation tends to be off-limits and uncomfortable. Reactions from individuals internationally have varied from “it does not happen here” to “I wish I knew about this 30 years ago, at the start of my teaching career”.

In some countries, parents have a right to discipline their own children and chastising your child is legal. In November 2022, in delivering child protection training to early years and primary school staff in Singapore, it was clear that some children were still caned by their relatives and some local schools still used caning as punishment.

“It takes a village to raise a child” is a term I often hear across the world, as is “trusting our community is something to be proud of”.

Once child protection training is completed, I often find delegates reflecting that it is real and can exist anywhere, including in the country they are from or live. People then see that child abuse is a “hidden” form of abuse and a difficult conversation for the child to have. Families and communities may not even understand, and children are silenced or accused of fabricating stories.

Pupil and child voice is something we have developed and implemented in England in educational settings and decision making in children's social care. However, in some countries, children are seen and not heard.

Another challenge when delivering child protection training is around controversial topics including identity, sexuality, and mental health, especially suicide and gender, when it relates to the welfare of the child. In England, this conversation is generally welcomed as child protection professionals see the impact on children in practice and government guidance promotes these as a safeguarding matter if it impacts on a child and support should be provided to the child.

However, in some countries homosexuality and suicide is still illegal.

Family traditionsvary across the world and in many countries, there is still the traditional “head of the household”. These are often the father's male relatives if they are absent. This can be a protective factor or it can be seen as dominance and control to some family members.

Professional curiosityin child protection has grown as a concept in the UK across various sectors over recent years and I see this conversation happening in other countries too.

Since the 1989 Act, the UK government has committed to an initiative-taking approach to safeguarding children. Various guidance and documents have been produced with clear expectations about professionals’ responsibilities inreporting child abuse. In March 2015, the Department for Education produced three key publications: What to do if You Are Worried About a Child(multi agency), Working Together to Safeguard Children(multi agency) and Keeping Children Safe in Education (for schools and colleges). These are often revised in line with updates and policy changes.

SAFEGUARDING IN SCHOOLS

Schools in England have a designated safeguarding lead who must be a member of the senior leadership team and a deputy who acts in their absence. They must attend specific training in line with their local authority procedures. Schools must be compliant in safeguarding and follow the latest DfE guidance, which is measured in inspection and governance.

Across the world, the safeguarding role in schools varies depending on the law and expectation of the country, culture of the school and previous exposure to the topic from staff. Internationally, school counsellors often hold the pastoral role where child protection is placed and processed and often communicated to leadership. However, designated safeguarding leads in schools are growing and there have been investments from governments and inspection frameworks to have safeguarding arrangements in place and the reporting of suspected child abuse to the relevant authority.

Working internationally has exposed me to a world where the rights of children are getting stronger, and the education and awareness of child abuse has started to grow. Most countries have a long way to go in implementing and promoting a child's rights of protection. Teaching children, families and communities about child safety is essential and conversations need to be promoted in all countries and communities.