Review on national systems of statistics and registration on child abuse First draft Florence, December 2004

Two major areas of interest 1. the institutional framework 2. the data systems on child abuse

Critical aspects for comparative 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 FRAMEWORK 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 FRAMEWORK 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

To whom professionals must report?

B. DATA ON CHILD ABUSE B.1. 1 National systems of statistics on child abuse Main Sectors of data collection

National Registry of those convicted of sexual offences against 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 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 Kingdom CHILD PROTECTION REGISTER…we will have a presentation

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.

Confirme d abuse confirmed non- abuse/ unfounde d inconclusi ve assessmen t assessme nt on- going Physical Abuse Emotional abuse Neglect Sexual Abuse Typologies and categories - Ireland

Netherlands – A regional example Regional 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 Registration systems 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 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!