Deir Mar Musa

SAFEGUARDING
BASIC KEEPING SAFE – DISTRIBUTION MATERIALS
Aim:
To provide a basic awareness of Safeguarding and protection of children and vulnerable adults for all staff and volunteers.

Objectives:
By the end of this training participants should understand:
- the basic concepts of Safeguarding
- the four main types of abuse – physical, sexual, neglect and emotional
- the signs and indicators of abuse
- their responsibilities and what to do if they have concerns
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Deir Mar Musa Safeguarding Policy – September 2023. Annex 5 – Training Materials
What do we mean by Safeguarding?

• Protecting children and vulnerable adults from maltreatment

• Preventing impairment of the health or development of children and vulnerable adults
• Ensuring that children are growing up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care
• Taking action to enable all children and vulnerable adults to have the best life chances

Definitions:

A child is: anyone who has not yet reached their 18 th birthday, even if they are living independently, and regardless of their
personal circumstances.
An adult at risk (vulnerable adult) is:
 an adult who has needs for care and support
 an adult experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect, and as a result is unable to protect himself or herself against the
abuse or the risk of it.

What makes a child or adult vulnerable?

Diverse needs and/or special educational needs Being a young Carer
Frequently missing from care or home Misusing drugs or alcohol
Returning home to the family from care/foster home Parent in prison or in the military
Poverty Being a refugee or Internally Displaced Person
At risk of Child Sexual Exploitation Homelessness
At risk of criminal activity Mental Health issues
Self-harm
Family circumstances like substance abuse, adult mental health issues, domestic abuse
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Deir Mar Musa Safeguarding Policy – September 2023. Annex 5 – Training Materials
Child protection and Protection of Vulnerable Adults is a part of Safeguarding and promoting welfare.
“This refers to the activity that is undertaken to protect specific children who are suffering, or are likely to suffer significant harm.”
Who is Responsible? Everyone.

We have a responsibility to:

Identify harm when we see it Identify when a family is struggling
Put procedures in place to protect children Respond to concerns
Report concerns to our team Record our concerns as soon as possible
Challenge if we disagree with decisions

Child Abuse and Abuse of a Vulnerable Adult

A form of maltreatment of a child or vulnerable adult. Somebody may abuse or neglect a child or vulnerable adult by
inflicting harm, or by failing to act to prevent harm. Children and vulnerable adults may be abused in a family or in an
institutional or community setting by those known to them or, more rarely, by others.
(E.g. via the internet). They may be abused by an adult or another child.

What is Abuse?
There are 4 main categories of abuse – Physical, Emotional, Neglect, Sexual

1. DEFINITION OF PHYSICAL ABUSE

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Deir Mar Musa Safeguarding Policy – September 2023. Annex 5 – Training Materials
Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning, scalding, drowning, suffocating, or any other
physical harm to a child or vulnerable adult. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent/carer invents symptoms of or
deliberately induces illness in a child or vulnerable adult.

2. DEFINITION OF EMOTIONAL ABUSE

The persistent emotional maltreatment of a child or vulnerable adult such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects
on their emotional development. It may involve conveying to children or vulnerable adults that they are worthless or
unloved, inadequate, or valued only insofar as they meet the needs of another person. It may include not giving the child or
vulnerable adult opportunities to express their views, deliberately silencing them or ‘making fun’ of what they say or how
they communicate. It may feature age or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children. These
may include interactions that are beyond the child or vulnerable adult’s developmental capability, as well as overprotection
and limitation of exploration and learning, or preventing the child participating in normal social interaction. It may involve
seeing or hearing the ill-treatment of another. It may involve serious bullying (including cyber bullying), causing children or
vulnerable adults frequently to feel frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children or vulnerable
adults. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child or vulnerable adult, though it may
occur alone.

3. DEFINITION OF NEGLECT

Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child or vulnerable adult’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to
result in the serious impairment of their health or development. Neglect may occur during pregnancy as a result of maternal
substance abuse. Once a child is born, neglect may involve a parent or carer failing to:

Provide adequate food, clothing and shelter (including exclusion from home or abandonment)
Protect a child or vulnerable adult from physical and emotional harm or danger
Ensure adequate supervision (including the use of inadequate care-givers)
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Deir Mar Musa Safeguarding Policy – September 2023. Annex 5 – Training Materials
Ensure access to appropriate medical care or treatment
It may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child or vulnerable adult’s basic emotional needs

4. DEFINITION OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Sexual abuse involves forcing or enticing a child, young person or vulnerable adult to take part in sexual activities, not
necessarily involving a high level of violence, whether or not they is aware of what is happening. The activities may involve
physical contact, including assault by penetration (for example, rape or oral sex) or non-penetrative acts such as
masturbation, kissing, rubbing and touching outside of clothing. They may also include non-contact activities, such as
involving children or vulnerable adults in looking at, or in the production of, sexual images, watching sexual activities,
encouraging children or vulnerable adults to behave in sexually inappropriate ways, or grooming a child or vulnerable
adult in preparation for abuse (including via the internet). Sexual abuse is not solely perpetrated by adult males. Women
can also commit acts of sexual abuse, as can other children.

What to do if you have a concern or receive a disclosure:

Talk to one of the Safeguarding authorities as soon as possible.

Record Accurate Facts only

Do not interpret or include or voice any personal views. Use non-judgmental language. Record details in clear and simple
language.

Appropriate Questioning:

 what, when, who, where

Adults must complete the recording form.

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Deir Mar Musa Safeguarding Policy – September 2023. Annex 5 – Training Materials