Vulnerability

Question 1

Golden Hour Principles

Answer 1

Victims identify, support and sensitively preserve evidence

Scenes identify, preserve, assess and commence log

Suspects identify, arrest and preserve

Witnesses identify, support and sensitively preserve evidence

Log decisions and rationale, circumstances, resources and conditions

Family/Community. identify, inform, primary support (needs, concerns, expectations, sensitivity)

Physical Evidence preservation (CCTV, public transport, escape routes, ambulances, hospitals)

Intelligence. identify, prioritise, maximise, exploit, consider, community and open source

Prevent Contamination victims, scenes, witnesses, suspects

Lines of Responsibility identify, inform, brief, coordinate and review

Question 2

Personal Factors + Situational Factors = Harm / Risk of Harm

Question 3

Vulnerable Individuals

Answer 3

T - Threat

H - Harm

R - Risk

I - Investigation

V - Vulnerability

E - Engagement

Question 4

THOR

Answer 4

T - Threat

H - Harm

O - Opportunity

R - Risk

Question 5

Safeguarding

Answer 5

Stop abuse and neglect wherever possible.

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Prevent harm and reduce the risk of abuse or neglect to someone with care and support needs.

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Safeguard a person in a way that supports them in making choices and having control about how they want to live.

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Promote an approach that concentrates on improving life for the person concerned.

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Raise public awareness so that communities, alongside professionals, play their part in identifying and preventing abuse and neglect.

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Provide information and support in accessible ways to help people understand the different types of abuse, how to stay safe and what to do to raise a concern about the safety or well-being of an individual.

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Address what has caused the abuse or neglect.

The safeguarding duties apply to a person who;

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Has needs for care and support, and

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Is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect, and

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As a result of those care and support needs is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of, or the experience of, abuse or neglect.

Question 6

Domestic Abuse

Answer 6

“Any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are or have been intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality. This can encompass but is not limited to the following types of abuse:

Psychological 
Physical
Sexual 
Financial
Emotional” 
(Strickland & Allen, 2018, p. 5)

Domestic abuse can describe a range of behaviours used by one person to control and dominate another person with whom they have had, or are in a close, intimate or family relationship. It may include abuse of men or women by their partner or ex-partners (including same sex relationships) or one family member to another. Domestic abuse can affect anyone regardless of age, class, culture, race, religion, sexuality, gender, disability or diversity. Domestic abuse can be physical and sexual violence, financial, psychological or emotional abuse.

Stages of Domestic Abuse

Often abuse creeps into the relationship gradually. Victims stay put because they hope it will change and their partner is so sorry and loving. This is called the binding stage of abuse. Victims have invested a lot into their relationship, and it is hard to admit all is not perfect.

As time goes on, there will often be an increase in aggression or violence. The victim may start to feel like they’re walking on eggshells and can do nothing right. This is the enduring stage of abuse.

Domestic abuse usually escalates and increases in frequency. A victim may be confused as to why this has happened and may start to believe their partner that it is their fault. Victims may begin to imagine what life could be like if they left. At this stage they are starting to disengage from the relationship. Leaving is the most dangerous time for them. The offender will want to re-gain control and may become unpredictable.

Signs of Domestic Abuse

There are many signs of an abusive relationship. The most telling sign is fear of a partner. If a person feels like they have to walk on eggshells around their partner; constantly watching what they say and do in order to avoid a blow-up; the chances are the relationship is unhealthy and abusive.

Question 7

Psychological Abuse

Answer 7

Insults - telling someone that they are “useless”, “ugly” or “a bad parent”
Shouting at a person or their children
Blaming another person for everything that has gone wrong in their own life
Threatening another person with violence, suicide or exposure
Threatening a person’s children, family members or friends to make them co-operate
Isolation - preventing a person from seeing family or friends, not allowing them to work
Shaming or embarrassing a person in front of others
Jealousy - accusing a partner of having affairs, punishing them for having previous partners

Question 8

Sexual Abuse

Answer 8

Sexual Abuse
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Sexual abuse is any sort of sexual contact against a person’s will

Sexual insults or taunting, calling someone sexual names
Insisting on sexual acts which make a person feel degraded or humiliated
Using pressure, threats or violence to make a person take part in sex
Deliberately causing unwanted physical pain during sex
Forcing a person to have sex after a physical assault
Using objects, toys, or other items without consent and to cause pain or humiliation
Tying a person up or other bondage/S&M when they haven’t willingly agreed or ignoring agreed limits or safe words that have been agreed
Refusal to use contraception
Deliberately passing on sexual diseases or infections
Forcing a person to watch pornography
Forcing a person to have sex with other people
Forcing a person to work as a prostitute
Performing sexual acts on a person when they couldn’t consent because they were sleeping or drunk

Question 9

Self-Neglect

Answer 9

Self-Neglect
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Self-neglect can be a complex and challenging issue for practitioners to address, because of the need to find the right balance between respecting a person’s autonomy and fulfilling their duty to protect the adult’s health and wellbeing. Both perspectives can be supported by human rights arguments.
The Care Act 2014 statutory guidance includes self-neglect in the categories of abuse or neglect relevant to safeguarding adults with care and support needs. In some circumstances, where there is a serious risk to the health and wellbeing of an individual, it may be appropriate to raise self-neglect as a safeguarding concern. However, interventions on self-neglect are usually more appropriate under the parts of the Care Act dealing with assessment, planning, information and advice, and prevention.
It is vital to establish whether the person has capacity to make decisions about their own wellbeing, and whether or not they are able or willing to care for themselves. An adult who is able to make choices may make decisions that others think of as self-neglect.
If the person does not want any safeguarding action to be taken, it may be reasonable not to intervene further, providing:
no-one else is at risk
their ‘vital interests’ are not compromised – that is, there is no immediate risk of death or major harm
all decisions / rationales are fully explained and recorded
other agencies have been informed and involved as necessary
The Social Care Institute for Excellence provide guidance for frontline practitioners dealing with adults who have care and support needs and those who may be at risk of abuse or neglect.

Question 10

Neglect and Acts of Omission

Answer 10

Neglect and Acts of Omission
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These include ignoring medical, emotional or physical care needs, failure to provide access to appropriate health, social care or educational services, and the withholding of the necessities of life such as medication, adequate nutrition and heating.

Question 11

Organisational Abuse

Answer 11

Organisational Abuse
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Organisational abuse is neglect and poor care practice within an institution or specific care setting, such as a hospital or care home for example, or in relation to care provided in one’s own home. This may range from one off incidents to on-going ill-treatment. It can be through neglect or poor professional practice as a result of the structure, policies, processes and practices within an organisation.

Indicators of organisational abuse include:

Misuse of medication / inappropriate restraint methods
Sensory deprivation e.g. denial of use of spectacles, hearing aids / denial of visitors or phone calls
Restricted access to toilet or bathing facilities, medical or social care, lack of clothing or possessions
Controlling relationships between staff and service users
Poor professional practice, poor communication and recording of essential care information
Lack of respect shown to a person
Failure to ensure privacy, personal dignity
Lack of flexibility and choice
Insufficient account taken of views of adult, relatives or carers
Significant numbers of low-level concerns
(Brighton and Hove Safeguarding Adults Board)

Question 12

Modern Slavery

Answer 12

Modern Slavery
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Modern Slavery is a crime hidden in plain sight involving the criminal exploitation of people who are often forced to work in horrendous conditions, live in cramped and often overcrowded conditions and are at risk of violence and sexual exploitation.

However, some instances are more subtle, and victims may not actually realise or acknowledge that they are, in fact, being exploited. An example of this is vulnerable individuals who are used to carry and supply drugs by those involved in county line activity.

Remember that when dealing with an incident of, or where you suspect modern slavery is happening, use the National Referral Mechanism. If you are unsure what to do, speak to your local SPOC who can offer advice and support.

Question 13

Discriminatory Abuse

Answer 13

Discriminatory Abuse
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Discriminatory abuse is when someone treats you unfairly because they think you are different. It can happen because of your age, sex, religion, race, disability, gender, religion or another reason.

It can happen anywhere - in hospitals, in shops, in your home.

Discriminatory abuse is wrong and should not happen. (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, 2012)

Question 14

Physical Abuse

Answer 14

Physical Abuse
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Pushing or pulling
Slapping, hitting or punching
Pinching, scratching and biting
Cutting or using sharp objects
Kicking and kneeing
Sleep deprivation
Starving or refusing water
Drugging or refusing essential medicines
Choking, suffocating or strangling
Scalding, burning or setting alight
Drowning
Using objects to hurt by striking or throwing
Using weapons
Torture
Attempted murder
Murder

Question 15

Financial or Material Abuse

Answer 15

Financial or Material Abuse
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Rigidly controlling another’s finances
Making a partner account for every penny they spend
Making a partner ask for money when they need it
Limiting another person to an allowance
Not letting a partner have a bank account
Withholding money or Credit cards
Keeping a partner in the dark about family finances
Stealing from a partner or taking their money
Denying another or their children basic things they need such as food, clothes, heating or bus fares
Running up debts in another person’s name without their knowledge
Making a partner or family member take out loans under duress
Preventing a person from working or choosing their own career
Sabotaging another’s job - making you miss work or calling constantly
Making another person work long hours to support their own spending

Question 16

Safeguarding Children

Answer 16

The Children Act 1989 (s 31 (9)) states that harm can include:

Ill-treatment or the impairment of health or development;

Impairment suffered from hearing or seeing the ill-treatment of another;

Sexual abuse; and

Forms of ill-treatment that are not physical.

Significant Harm
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The Children Act 1989 identifies the element of significant harm as the measure which justifies compulsory intervention in family life in the best interests of children. Section 47 of the Act places a duty on local authorities to make enquiries to decide whether to take action to safeguard or promote the welfare of a child who is suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm.

’Harm’ is defined as the ill treatment or impairment of health and development. This definition was clarified by section 120 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (implemented on 31 January 2005) to include ‘impairment suffered from seeing or hearing the ill treatment of another’ for example, where there are concerns of domestic abuse.

Additionally, a court may only make a care order or a Supervision Order in respect of a child if it is satisfied that:

The child is suffering, or is likely to suffer significant harm; and

That the harm or likelihood of harm is attributable to a lack of adequate parental care or control (Section 31).

There are no absolute criteria on which to rely when judging what constitutes significant harm. Consideration of the severity of ill-treatment may include the level of physical harm, the duration and frequency of abuse and neglect, the extent of premeditation, the degree of threat, coercion, sadism or unusual elements. Each of these elements has been associated with more severe effects on the child and/or relatively greater difficulty in helping the child overcome the adverse impact of the maltreatment.

Sometimes a single traumatic event may constitute significant harm, e.g. a violent assault, suffocation or poisoning. More often, significant harm is a compilation of significant events, both acute and long-standing, which change or damage the child’s physical and psychological development.

Some children live in family and social circumstances where their health and development are neglected. For them, it is the impact of long-term neglect, emotional, physical or sexual abuse that causes impairment to the extent of constituting significant harm. In each case, it is necessary to consider any ill-treatment alongside the family’s strengths and supports.

To understand and establish significant harm, it is necessary to consider:

The family context, including protective factors;

The child’s development within the context of their family and wider social and cultural environment;

Any special needs, such as a medical condition, communication difficulty or disability that may affect the child’s development and care within the family;

The nature of harm, in terms of ill-treatment or failure to provide adequate care;

The impact on the child’s health and development; and

The adequacy of parental care.

Child
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In England, Northern Ireland and Wales, a child is someone who has not yet reached their 18th birthday. Once they turn 18, they are legally an adult.

Police Officers should be aware of the extra vulnerability of certain groups of children such as those who:

Are disabled or suffer from a learning difficulty

In care of the Local Authority

Involved in substance misuse

Regularly go missing

Suitable Accommodation
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This can be somewhere such as a children’s home, foster care or also putting the child into the care of another relative or appropriate known person. If it is decided that the child can indeed stay with a relative or alternative person then a risk assessment should be carried out to ensure that this is the most suitable person.

If relevant then a hospital can also be classed as suitable accommodation, if the child is already there and it is agreed that the child shall remain in hospital, however you must not deem a police station as suitable accommodation unless under exceptional circumstances where you are unable to place them into suitable accommodation elsewhere.

Question 17

Domestic Violence Protection Orders (DVPO)

Answer 17

A DVPN is an emergency non-molestation and eviction notice which can be issued to a DA perpetrator by the police when attending to a domestic abuse incident. Because the DVPN is a police-issued notice, it is effective from the time of issue, thereby giving the victim the immediate support they require in such a situation. Within 48 hours of the DVPN being served on the perpetrator, an application by police to a Magistrates’ Court for a DVPO must be heard. A DVPO can prevent the perpetrator from returning to a residence and from having contact with the victim for up to 28 days. This allows the victim a degree of breathing space to consider their options with the help of a support agency.

Question 18

Criteria for a DVPN:

Answer 18

Criteria for a DVPN:

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The alleged perpetrator is 18 or over, although the person to be protected does not need to be over 18.

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The alleged perpetrator must have used or threatened violence towards the victim and/or an associated person* on this occasion.

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The DVPN is necessary to protect the victim and or associated person from violence by the alleged perpetrator.