| answer text |
<p>The National Working Group on Child Abuse Linked to Faith or Belief has been renamed
as the National Working Group on Abuse Linked to Accusations of Witchcraft and Spirit
Possession. It is independent and the department is invited as an observer.</p><p>The
government is determined to protect children from this abuse, as from any other form
of abuse. Where there are concerns that any child is at risk of, or has suffered significant
harm, these should be reported to the police or to local authority children’s social
care who should take action to safeguard and promote their welfare, following the
actions outlined in the ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ guidance<em>.</em></p><p>In
the Children in Need statistics for the year ending 31 March 2023 published in October
2023, faith-based abuse was identified as an assessment factor in 2,140 episodes of
need. Episodes of need are when a child is referred to children’s social care services
and is assessed as being in need of children’s social care services. It should be
noted that not all episodes of need have assessment factors recorded, but this has
improved over time. Nonetheless, there can be differences in the recording practices
between local authorities. Therefore, this data should be treated with caution and
should not be taken to represent the national prevalence of particular issues. <br>
<br> The government’s ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ strategy, published on 2 February
2023, set out plans to reform children’s social care, including a commitment to deliver
a decisive, multi-agency child protection system for all children.</p>
|
|
