Child Protection and Practice最新文献

Empowered Aid is a participatory action research project led by the Global Women's Institute (GWI) in partnership with humanitarian aid actors. It aims to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation (SEA) from occurring, through models that actively reduce power disparities and give girls and women sustained voices in how aid is delivered. Empowered Aid began working in Jordan in September 2022, in partnership with World Vision, to contextualize and scale up interventions arising from completed research in Uganda, Lebanon and Bangladesh. The Empowered Aid team worked with World Vision Jordan to consult refugee girls and women on the SEA-related risks they faced in Al Azraq camp when accessing aid services and centers, such as the “Road to Resilience” Peace Center – a space where educational and life-skills activities are organized to promote resilience for children and youth. This practice insight suggests a low-to no-cost participatory solution towards mitigating SEA and other GBV risks in accessing services, for example when girls and women are prevented from accessing non-governmental organizations' (NGO) services safely due to verbal and physical harassment by other camp residents. The underlying cause of this harassment are the power imbalances that limit the movement of girls and women, which must also be addressed through longer-term violence prevention and response programming that incorporates their contextual knowledge. Alongside such efforts, creating accompanying systems for girls and women can serve to quickly enhance their safety and access to services, while helping them feel more empowered and secure in navigating gender-unequal environments.

Background

Newcomer families with child welfare involvement face complex COVID-19 related challenges that are still less understood within the Canadian context.

Objective

This study explored views on the changes in child safety reporting and interventions with newcomer families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants

and Setting: Participants were 63 child welfare workers from Children's Aid Societies across Ontario, Canada.

Methods

Using cross tabulations with Fisher exact tests, the analysis draws on survey data from the second wave of the pandemic to test for significance of differences in areas of child safety reporting, interventions with newcomer families, and available supports across urban and urban/rural settings.

Findings

Parents' emotional instability and substance use (86%), domestic/adult conflict (85.6%), and child emotional harm (66.3%) were the top child safety issues with most increased reporting during the pandemic. Except for domestic/adult conflict, there were no differences in the rating of the six identified areas of child abuse across newcomer/racialized caseloads in different geographical settings. Increasingly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, workers were intervening with newcomer families by ‘connecting them with community agencies or services’ (51.8%), and ‘reaching out to extended family and other community members to support parents’ (44.6%). Mental health supports (68.4%), family access (66.7%), and childcare (65.9%) were the least accessible services.

Conclusion

A closer examination of the reported child safety incidents shows that child emotional harm was on the rise and that child sexual and physical abuse were underreported. Unidentified cases of child abuse during the pandemic posed barriers to help-seeking and resulted in limited or no supports for victims.

Background

The study of the trajectories of care leavers regarding their involvement with a series of public services and institutions contributes to identify some indicators of psychosocial adjustment and therefor make proposals of improvement in their transitions into adulthood.

Objectives

The present study aims to contribute to knowledge in this regard and the objectives focus on analysing the relationship of care leavers once they become adults with (i) the child protection system as parents, (ii) the penitentiary system, and (iii) residential resources for people with disabilities, analysing the results according to gender, country of origin, type of foster care when they were minors, type of support received as young care leavers and years in care.

Method

With a pioneering study in Spain, we analyse cohort of former looked-after young people from the Autonomous Community of Catalonia born between 1983 and 1993 (N = 8334), based on the analysis of official records. Bivariate data analysis and three logistic regression models was carried out.

Results and conclusions

The results indicate that despite experiencing higher rates of vulnerability in these three areas compared to the general population, it is notable that the majority of this population with a care background overcome adversity without displaying any of these indicators. Differences by the variables of gender, type of placement and support received are discussed to help identify factors influencing the life pathways of former looked-after youth.

Child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) is a pervasive issue affecting children globally, cutting across socio-economic, ethnic, and cultural lines. While much research has historically emphasized the victimization of girls, emerging studies highlight the vulnerability of boys and underscore the neglected intersections of CSEA with LGBTQI​+ ​statuses. LGBTQI​+ ​youth are particularly susceptible to CSEA due to societal discrimination, stigmatization, and biases stemming from socio-cultural, religious, and family contexts. Notably, transgender children and youth face exacerbated risks, marked by alarming rates of stigma, violence, and discrimination, often termed transphobia. From an examination of the academic, evidence-based literature, this discussion paper sheds light on harmful cultural practices (such as the ‘dancing boys’ of South Asia who may exhibit feminine characteristics and are frequently exposed to the risk of sexual violence); myths (surrounding homosexuality); religious doctrines (which generally approach these issues within a discourse of morality and sin); and socio-ecological factors that collectively increase the risk of CSEA for LGBTQI​+ ​children - with a focus on the developing world. Furthermore, while the socio-ecological and resilience frameworks offer promising avenues for understanding and addressing these vulnerabilities, glaring data gaps persist, especially beyond developed countries. The paper concludes with identifying the compelling need for robust research and a comprehensive understanding of how CSEA impacts LGBTQI​+ ​children worldwide, which can guide targeted interventions and support.

Background

Given the distinct and evolving needs of children with disabilities, doctors-to-the-barrios, community doctors deployed in low-resource areas in the Philippines, may be regarded to be in an ideal position to provide protective services for these children.

Objective

To explore the perspectives of community doctors about their perceived roles in employing protective mechanisms for children with disabilities.

Participants and setting

Twelve community doctors deployed in three major island groups in the Philippines participated in this study.

Method

This study used a qualitative research approach, anchored on the methodological and ethical commitments of Sikolohiyang Pilipino. The participants agreed to take part in an online pakikipagkwentuhan (akin to semi-structured interview). The audio file recordings from these interviews were transcribed. These transcripts were subjected to inductive thematic analysis.

Results

Five main themes were identified about the perceived roles of community doctors in employing protective mechanisms for children with disabilities. These include: (a) identifying and monitoring children with disabilities, (b) attending to the health-related needs of the family, (c) detecting red flags for suspected cases of abuse, (d) providing medical intervention to incidents of abuse, and (e) ensuring the continuity of legal proceedings.

Conclusion

The themes in the study affirm that community doctors occupy a unique space in employing a spectrum of protective measures for children with disabilities as they are among the few, if not the only one, providing crucial health-related services to this group of children, their families, and their communities.