child abuse – everybody's business

child abuse | help and info

help and info

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organisations

ChildLine
Freepost Natn 1111
London E1 6BR
Helpline: 0800 1111 (24 hours)
Textphone: 0800 400 222
General enquiries: 020 7650 3200 (Mon-Fri 9am-5.30pm)
Website: www.childline.org.uk
Free, confidential 24-hour helpline staffed by counsellors who are trained to encourage children and young people to talk about any issue that is worrying them and offer useful advice. The charity warns that lines can be busy so callers should be persistent. The ChildLine website also contains a wealth of news, features and advice on various topics including domestic violence, bullying and exam stress.

Children 1st
83 Whitehouse Loan
Edinburgh EH9 1AT
ParentLine Scotland: 0808 800 2222 (Mon, Wed, Fri 9am-5pm; Tues and Thurs 9am-9pm)
Tel: 0131 446 2300
Website: www.children1st.org.uk
Children 1st is one of Scotland's leading childcare charities. It provides supports to families under stress, protects children from harm and neglect and promotes children's rights and interests. The charity's free and confidential helpline supports parents and anyone caring for a child in Scotland. The website outlines the charity's history and activities and contains useful recommended reading for children and young people on subjects such as dealing with tantrums, coping with family breakdown and childhood ailments.

Childwatch
7 Jarratt Street
Hull HU1 3HB
Helpline: 01482 325 552 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm)
Tel: 01482 325 552
E-mail: info@childwatch.org.uk
Website: www.childwatch.org.uk
Provides free confidential counselling and support to victims of abuse over the telephone. The charity also raises awareness of family violence and child abuse through posters, leaflets and books and its national projects. The website contains advice to parents as well as online games and downloadable interactive funbooks to teach children about stranger danger and other protective behaviour.

Kidscape
2 Grosvenor Gardens
London SW1W 0DH
Helpline: 08451 205 204 (Mon-Fri 10am-4pm)
Tel: 020 7730 3300
Website: www.kidscape.org.uk
Charity committed to keeping children safe from bullying and child abuse. The helpline provides practical advice to parents on any concerns about school bullying. Kidscape promotes peer support programmes in schools which encourage senior pupils to help younger children who may be being bullied or feel threatened. The website includes a forum for children to talk about their experiences of bullying, details of courses to help children to cope with bullying and you can order free booklets and leaflets on child safety and the prevention of bullying and abuse.

NSPCC
Weston House
42 Curtain Road
London EC2A 3NH
Helpline: 0808 800 5000 (24 hours, every day)
Textphone: 0808 100 1033 (For those with hearing difficulties)
Asian helpline: 0800 096 7719 (Mon-Fri, 11am-7pm. Advisers speak English and Asian languages)
Cymru/Welsh helpline: 0808 100 2524 (Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm)
Tel: 020 7825 2500
E-mail: help@nspcc.org.uk
Website: www.nspcc.org.uk
Young people's advice website: www.there4me.com
Young people's advice website: www.there4me.com The UK's leading charity specialising in child protection and the prevention of cruelty to children. The free helpline is for anyone, children or adults, concerned about a child at risk of abuse. The NSPCC also runs high profile campaigns for children's rights, such as Full Stop and administers 180 regional teams and projects, and conducts research into child abuse and its effects.

National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC)
42 Curtain Road
London EC2A 3NH
NAPAC Support Line: 0800 085 3330 (check opening times on website plus details of which mobile providers offer free calls to this line)
Website: www.napac.org.uk
Provides support and advice to adult survivors of sexual abuse in childhood through distributing the details of local support groups in the UK, a help and advice pack and a book list of relevant reading. Support is free and confidential and available by post, through the website or via e-mail.

Parentline Plus
520 Highgate Studios
53-79 Highgate Road
Kentish Town
London NW5 1TL
Helpline: 0808 800 2222 (24 hours)
Textphone: 0800 783 6783
Central Office: 020 7284 5500
E-mail: parentsupport@parentlineplus.org.uk
Website: www.parentlineplus.org.uk
Offers support to anyone parenting or helping to raise children, from newborn babies to young adults. There are free telephone and email helplines, parenting courses and information leaflets. The website offers lots of advice, real-life stories and relevant news as well as a helpful A-Z of related topics, such as coping with change, runaway children and discipline.

Stop it Now! UK & Ireland
PO Box 9841
Birmingham B48 7WB
Helpline: 0808 1000 900 (Mon-Thurs 9am-9pm; Fri 9am-7pm)
Tel: 01527 598 184
E-mail: help@stopitnow.org.uk
Website: ww.stopitnow.org.uk
This charity advises anyone who has abused, or thought about abusing, a child and provides support to the family and friends of abusers. The campaign encourages abusers to recognise their behaviour problems and seek help to change. Staff deliver support through its free and confidential helpline, various publications and local support groups.

The Survivors Trust
27b William Street
Rugby
Warwickshire CV21 3HA
Tel: 01788 550554
Website: www.thesurvivorstrust.org
Umbrella agency providing a range of counselling, therapeutic and support services, working with women, men and children who are victims/survivors of rape, sexual violence and childhood sexual abuse.

Refuge
4th Floor, International House
1 St Katharine's Way
London E1W 1UN
Helpline: 0808 2000 247 (24 hours, every day)
Email: info@refuge.org.uk
Website: www.refuge.org.uk
Provides counselling, support and welfare rights for women and children escaping domestic violence as well as accommodation and refuge.

Women's Aid
PO Box 391
Bristol BS99 7WS
Tel: 0117 944 4411
Helpline 0808 2000 247 (24 hour)
Online help: helpline@womensaid.org.uk
Email: info@womensaid.org.uk
Website: www.womensaid.org.uk
Women's Aid is a national charity that is working to end domestic violence against women and children by providing support, information and a safe refuge as well as campaigning nationally and internationally. The site features a domestic violence information pack to download. The charity also runs a free 24-hour helpline with Refuge to provide support, information and a listening ear to women experiencing (or who have experienced) domestic abuse and to those seeking help on a woman's behalf.

Women's Support Project
31 Stockwell Street
Glasgow G1 4RZ
Tel: 0141 552 2221
Textphone: 0141 552 9979
E-mail: info@womenssupportproject.co.uk
Website: www.womenssupportproject.co.uk
A voluntary organisation that works on a range of issues, including domestic violence, child sexual abuse and incest. Provides information, crisis and ongoing support for women whose children have been sexually abused. Also has resources and information relating to men and boys affected by sexual abuse.

websites

Children Are Unbeatable!
www.childrenareunbeatable.org.uk
An alliance of 350 organisations, projects and individuals which is lobbying for reform to give children the same legal protection from assault as adults. As well as outlining its principles and children's views of discipline, the website offers advice on positive approaches to discipline.

Chosen – Selected, Groomed, Abused
www.chosen.org.uk
Website of the documentary Chosen by award winning director Brian Woods. A trailer of the Channel 4 doc is available to watch plus a link to the production company website where DVDs of other award winning documentaries are available to purchase.

Safeguarding children – every child matters
www.everychildmatters.gov.uk/socialcare/safeguarding/
This site introduces the Department of Health's professional guidelines for safeguarding children. You can download the guidelines as a pdf.

Hands Off!
www.nspcc.org.uk/documents/hands_off.pdf
Downloadable magazine which has been produced by the NSPCC to teach teenagers about sexual abuse. Filled with helpful advice, real-life examples from other young people and information on how to get help if you need it.

The Hideout
www.thehideout.org.uk
A safe place in cyberspace for children and young people created by Women's Aid. The Hideout talks about the different forms of domestic violence and recommends agencies that can provide where children and teenagers with help and support.

Protecting our Children – A guide for parents
http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/tnsp45950_protecting.pdf
An online booklet containing information on how parents can effectively prevent their children being sexually abused. Written by Dan Norris MP, a former social worker who specialised in child protection and Michele Elliot, the director of Kidscape. The booklet includes practical advice and tried-and-tested tips on how best to protect children from predatory sex offenders.

reading

	Child Abuse by Brian Corby (Editor) (Open University Press, 2000) The author explores child abuse and neglect from a historical viewpoint and looks at the shift towards more preventive, family supportive approaches to child protection work in Britain, the USA and Europe. Get this book
	The Child Protection Handbook by Kate Wilson and Adrian James (Harcourt Publishers, 2001) A comprehensive sourcebook and reference for the wide range of practical, theoretical and legal issues in the field of child protection. Provides practical and evidence-based accounts of the main key and contemporary developments in child protection practice in the UK. Get this book
	Creative Responses to Child Sexual Abuse by Sue Richardson and Heather Bacon (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2003) Despite media attention and greater professional knowledge about child abuse, many children are still being failed by the system. This book outlines ways that professionals can successfully break the cycle of abuse. Get this book
	Discipline Without Shouting or Spanking by Jerry Wyckoff and Barbara Unell (Meadowbrook Press, 1997) Provides clear and straightforward advice to parents on practical and non-violent solutions for correcting children's behaviour without resorting to aggression. Get this book
	Do No Harm: Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy by Craig McGill (Vision paperbacks, 2002) Based on case studies and interviews, this book investigates the effects of MSBP on parents and children as well as the syndromes wider impact on society. Get this book
	The Emotionally Abused and Neglected Child by Dorota Iwaniec (John Wiley and Sons, 1996) Looks at emotional abuse and neglect and asks whether emotional damage to a child can be repaired. It considers the different types of injury, both active and passive, physical and emotional, that stop children from reaching their full potential. Get this book

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