Respond

The second step in responding well to concerns is to take action in an appropriate, sensitive and timely way.

Responding to signs and indicators: 

Respond well to indicators of abuse or concerns about the behaviour of another worker by recording your concern and passing it on to your Safeguarding Lead within 24 hours. If someone is in immediate danger, contact the emergency services straight away.

If you recognise signs or indicators of abuse in someone you are with, you can respond with caring curiosity. You could ask them some open questions that may help them share any concerns if they want to, e.g. You seem a bit quiet today, is anything worrying you? If the person decides not to talk then their decision should be respected, but any concerns should still be reported in the usual way.

Responding to disclosures: 

When a person tells you directly about their experience of harm or abuse, or comes to you for help, this is called making a disclosure. The initial response to a disclosure can have a lasting impact.

All workers in an organisation should receive an appropriate level of safeguarding training to enable them to respond well when a disclosure is made.

Your organisation's safeguarding policy should include information on your own processes for responding to and reporting concerns and may contain specific processes that relate to certain activities and services that your organisation runs.

Actions to take: 

• Actively listen. One of the biggest gifts we can give someone who is telling us something painful is our time, presence and attention. Show you are listening through body language, facial expressions and lack of distractions. Listen well and let them speak. 
• Reassure the person that they have done the right thing in telling someone and that the information will be taken seriously. 
• Ensure the immediate safety of the person. 
• Seek medical help if needed, advising the medical professionals of any concerns. 
• Make a record of what has happened. 
• Explain what will happen next and ask the person what they would like to happen. Sometimes what the person wants is not possible, but knowing their wishes will help you keep them at the centre of the concern. 
• Report any concerns to your Safeguarding Lead.

Things to avoid: 

• Don’t promise secrecy. Confidentiality means only telling the people who need to know at the time they need to know it. You can reassure the person that you won’t tell the whole community, the perpetrator or any unnecessary person, but you will need to tell your Safeguarding Lead. Statutory agencies may also need to be told depending on what the concern is, the age of the person etc. 
• Don’t minimise the harm and abuse. It can be tempting to try and make someone feel better by downplaying their experiences to make it seem smaller or more reasonable. However, this may make the person feel they should just put up with it, or they have made a mistake in seeking help.  
• Don’t blame the victim-survivor: Perpetrators often tell the people they harm that what is happening to them is their own fault.  Abuse and neglect are NEVER the fault of the person experiencing it, and we must be careful not to give that impression in our response.  
• Don’t ask leading questions or try to investigate the situation – this is not your role, and it can compromise any official investigations if you respond inappropriately.  It can also affect the person’s recall of events which may become a barrier to seeking help or justice later. 
• Don’t try and solve the person’s situation all by yourself – it is important to pass the information on to the right people so the safeguarding process can work effectively, and the person can be kept safe. 
• A person should never be required to meet with the person they have reported has abused them. 
• If it is a child, don’t discuss with parents/carers until after you have reported your concerns and have received advice about what should happen next. 

Things to consider

The skills needed to respond to a disclosure of abuse can be practiced in advance and may be included as part of a training session.

Usually, a person will seek support and disclose to someone they trust. Responding well means you can continue to support the person through the rest of the safeguarding process.  

Information might be shared about someone in another organisation or about a person unknown to you. The need to respond appropriately is the same. 

Children can and do abuse other children. Child-on-child abuse needs to be recognised, responded to, recorded and reported just as it does when the perpetrator is an adult. There would be safeguarding concerns about the child who has perpetrated harm as well as the child who has experienced it. In the case of severe sexual assault such as rape, which may have happened in the last few days, contact the police immediately and follow their advice.