The previous Pan-Dorset Safeguarding Children Partnership agreed priorities for 2023-2025:
The previous Pan-Dorset Safeguarding Children Partnership had agreed, in consultation with the BCP and Dorset Community Safety Partnership and the BCP and Dorset Safeguarding Adult Board’s, the following priorities for 2023-2025. These will be reviewed and priorities set for each Safeguarding Children Partnership from 2025 onwards.
| Priority 1: Violence experienced by children and young people |
| a) Sexual violence and abuse including on-line abuse |
| Why is this a priority? |
| In the Pan-Dorset area the largest proportional increase in suspected sexual offenders has occurred within male suspects of sexual offences aged under 18, having risen by 2.5% from 8.7% to 11.2% from 2019 – 2022. Individuals aged under 18 at the time of reporting the offence to police remain the largest cohort of victims, accounting for over a third (34.0%) of all sexual offence in the last 12 months. The Children’s Commissioner’s report on young people and pornography in January 2023 identified that pornography exposure is widespread and normalised – to the extent that children cannot ‘opt-out’. The average age at which children first see pornography is 13. By age nine, 10% had seen pornography, 27% had seen it by age 11 and half of children who had seen pornography had seen it by age 13. They also found that young people are frequently exposed to violent pornography, depicting coercive, degrading or pain-inducing sex acts; 79% had encountered violent pornography before the age of 18. Young people expressed concern about the implications of violent pornography on their understanding of the difference between sexual pleasure and harm. |
| Priority 1: Violence experienced by children and young people |
| b) Domestic violence and abuse |
| Why is this a priority? |
| – Each year more than 100,000 people in the UK are at imminent risk of being murdered or seriously injured as a result of domestic abuse. – 130,000 children live in households where there is high-risk domestic abuse. – A quarter (25%) of children in high-risk domestic abuse households are under 3 years old. – 62% of children living in domestic abuse households are directly harmed by the perpetrator of the abuse, in addition to the harm caused by witnessing the abuse of other – In 2021-2022 9,477 domestic abuse-related crimes were recorded by Dorset Police up from 9,159 the year before. |
| Priority 1: Violence experienced by children and young people |
| c) Physical violence and knife crime |
| Why is this a priority? |
| Under 18s continue to account for the largest proportion of Public Place Violent crime victims, in the Pan-Dorset. In the last 12 months they represented 24.3% (1,875 of 7,715) of all victims. Victims aged under 18 at the time of the offence are slightly more likely to be a repeat victim (12.4%, 199 of 1,611). There 338 recorded knife crimes in the last 12 months and this is an 8.3% increase. There continues to be an increase in under 18s as both victims and perpetrators of knife crimes. Reviews have indicated that there have been on-going concerns in this area. Operation Landslide related to two 16-year-olds convicted of murder and both were in possession of knives and the victim died of stab wounds. |
| Priority 2: Children’s mental health and emotional well-being |
| Why is this a priority? |
| Child mental health remains a disproportionately high factor within referrals from the police and is the predominant concern in around 10% of submissions. This is also reflected within referrals from social care and health, as well as child attendances to local A+E Departments. There is an increase in both the volume, and complexity of mental health, following the pandemic. Multi-Agency planning is ongoing to review and improve local service provision and there is still a lack of appropriate accommodation for these children and young people. |
| Priority 3: Neglect |
| Why is this a priority? |
| Neglect continues to be a feature in both national and local reviews e.g., neglect featured in nearly 75% of the 166 SCRs examined for the period 2017-19. There is a continued need to ensure that all agencies are recognising and responding effectively to neglect. The Partnership recognises the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and poverty and the increase pressures on family life that can lead to neglect. |