Screening and vetting for child abuse

Screening for people who work with children has again been raised following further arrests for child sexual abuse in Northland.

Measures proposed under the Vulnerable Children's Bill include screening and vetting of employees of government agencies and contracted government agencies. Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says while the Bill will introduce a standardised screening and vetting process, communities and individuals have to be vigilant in identifying danger signs. She said, " A lot of people hold a lot of information, and when you put it together there may not be a previous prosecution but there might be a history that is alarming enough that says if you are following the standard vetting, that person should not be working with children."

An awareness campaign is planned to help people identify danger signs. The It's Not OK Campaign and TOAH-NNEST have recently produced a brochure How can I protect my child from sexual abuse?

The Chief Executive of CCS Disability Action, David Matthews, argued that screening should be extended to include people who work with vulnerable adults, saying they are equally in need of protection.

The Select Committee is due to report on the Vulnerable Children's Bill in March 2014.

Media:

Complex teacher screening process planned, Stuff, 11.11.13

Sex abuse victims coming forward, Northern Advocate, 02.11.2013

Ex-principal accused of child abuse, Northern Advocate, 31.10.2013

Minister discusses vetting system overhaul, TVNZ, 25.10.2013

Exposing predators every Kiwi's responsibility - minister, TVNZ, 25.10.2013

Northland educator facing child abuse charges, TVNZ, 24.10.2013

Child protection screening 'should extend to vulnerable adults', Voxy, 24.10.2013

Image: Hands by Barnaby Wasson. Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)