Contextual Safeguarding is an approach that recognises the influence that a range of environments and people outside of the family can have on the risk faced by children and young people.
Most conventional policy and practice focuses on protecting children from abuse within the family and home, whereas Contextual Safeguarding considers extra-familial relationships and settings when assessing risk. This can include schools, local neighbourhoods and online, in addition to peer groups.
The multifaceted nature of young people’s lives and connections means that sometimes these different contexts overlap and interrelate resulting in children encountering multiple risks. For example, a deprived area could have high levels of knife crime that increases the risk of young people getting involved in gang violence, which could also increase the chance of becoming a victim and perpetrator of sexual and criminal exploitation.
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