child abuse – everybody's business
child abuse | help and info
help and info
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third party sites.
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
19 Spring Bank
Hull HU3 1AF
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)
Textphone: 0800 056 0566
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
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 and also for people who are concerned about their own behaviour towards children. There are Asian and Welsh language helplines. The NSPCC also runs high profile campaigns for children's rights, such as Full Stop, administers 180 regional pteams and projects and conducts research into child abuse and its effects. Details of this and its fundraising activities are availiable on the website.
National Association for People Abused in Childhood
(NAPAC)
42 Curtain Road
London EC2A 3NH
E-mail: Peter@napac.org.uk
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 email.
Parentline Plus
Helpline: 0808 800 2222 (24 hours)
Textphone: 0800 783 6783
Tel: 020 7284 5500
E-mail: contact@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.
Refuge
8 Maltravers Street
London WC2R 3EE
Tel: 020 7395 7700
Helpline: 08008 2000 247 (24 hour)
Email: info@refuge.org.uk
Website: www.refuge.org.uk
Refuge is a charity that runs a network of safe houses to provide emergency accommodation for women and children when they are most in need and campaigns for an end to domestic violence. The charity produces a regular newsletter that you can subscribe to online. The charity also runs a free 24-hour helpline with Women's Aid 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 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 (Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri: 10am-4.30pm; Weds 2pm - 4.30pm)
Textphone: 0141 552 9979
E-mail: info@wsproject.demon.co.uk
A voluntary organisation which 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.
Safeguarding children
www.dh.gov.uk
This site introduces the Department of Health's 68-page professional guidelines for safeguarding children suffering an illness which is induced or fabricated by carers with parenting responsibilities. You can download the guidelines as a pdf on this site.
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://freespace.virgin.net/norris.wansdyke/Protbook.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 Child Protection Handbook by Kate Wilson and Adrian James (Harcourt Publishers, 2001) |
 |
Creative Responses to Child Sexual Abuse by Sue Richardson and Heather Bacon (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2001) |
 |
Discipline Without Shouting or Spanking by Jerry Wyckoff and Barbara Unell (Meadowbrook Press, 1997) |
 |
Do No Harm: Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy by Craig McGill (Vision paperbacks, 2002) |
 |
The Emotionally Abused and Neglected Child by Dorota Iwaniec (John Wiley and Sons, 1996) |
 |
|
Back to feature.
