Safer Sikhs Partnership welcomes an honest and much needed review of Police management of child abuse cases across the UK by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary.
We urge all authorities to act on the findings of this report and to adopt a coordinated approach to protecting children from all communities across the UK.
Amongst the report’s findings is the suggestion “that there is, therefore, likely to be underrecording of abuse and neglect within the child protection system. We are not satisfied that the details of children who come to the attention of child protection agencies are being properly recorded.”
Safer Sikhs Partnership believes that cultural sensitivity and awareness needs to be further improved amongst front line staff within Police forces and other child protection agencies. Authorities need to take a coordinated approach, working with different communities and to develop training programs reflective of today’s diverse communities across the UK.
More work is required to tackle the perceptions and myths around child abuse and child sexual exploitation particularly in relation to different cultural settings and communities in respect of both victims and perpetrators. Realities are often masked by a lack of reporting and by a lack of appropriate recording by the authorities.
Safer Sikhs Partnership is an initiative of the Sikh Council UK bringing together professionals and experts to raise awareness, improve responses and tackle safeguarding issues against vulnerable people within the Sikh community, in our Gurdwaras and other organisations and against threats to children of all communities in the UK.
Safer Sikhs Partnership are working with the Sikh community to ensure best safeguarding practices amongst the Sikh community. We are actively working to make children aware of risks and create environments where children can have confidence to speak up on abuse and exploitation. We will be working with national bodies and authorities to improve understanding and awareness of cultural issues which play a pivotal role in child protection.
