Abuse against children and vulnerable adults is alarmingly prevalent in our province. In Canada, 1 in 3 children will experience abuse of some form before the age of 15, 1 in 4 elders experience physical abuse and 1 in 10 people experience sexual abuse. While these are difficult statistics to acknowledge , each one of us can help make a difference and create change.
Areas of Risk
Local governments face abuse-related risk in a variety of contexts, including:
- Programming involving the custody and control over the care of children, such as daycare, preschool, lessons, youth sports, and summer camps; and
- Facilities, such as swimming pools, change rooms, and other spaces, where staff, volunteers, or other adults may be in contact with children, young people, or vulnerable adults.
In addition to risks arising from the conduct of staff or volunteers, there is also risk arising from the failure of staff and volunteers to understand their legal duty to report abuse.
Creating a Safe Environment
Creating a safe environment is at the heart of protecting children, young people, and vulnerable adults. According to experts, there are seven steps to creating a safe environment:
- Adopting policies and procedures for addressing the protection of children, young people, and vulnerable adults;
- Careful recruitment and selection processes for employees and volunteers;
- Employee and volunteer training in abuse prevention and reporting;
- Implementing and monitoring abuse prevention policies and procedures;
- Understanding the legal duty to report abuse or neglect;
- Responding appropriately to an allegation of abuse or neglect; and
- Instituting access, facility, and program controls.