4: Working together: policy into practice

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In this chapter, we look at systems and processes designed to manage sexual offenders and sexual offending, with a particular focus on interprofessional working, drawing on research and investigations into sexual abuse. The organisational context of safeguarding people from sexual abuse is important in providing the framework within which various agencies can make sound, informed decisions and take appropriate actions. Social workers are located within these systems and practise in spaces where the criminal law may not be adequate to protect people. We look at current structures and how these function, including the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA), and consider what recent reports into child sexual exploitation (CSE) tell us about what needs to be done differently to avoid failing the victims of sexual abuse. Although we specifically address issues relating to England and Wales, the nature of interprofessional collaboration in this area is an international problem and we hope that our perspectives will contribute to international debate and policy development.

The term ‘safeguarding’ has become commonplace in the UK to describe the ways in which we protect people from abuse, harm and neglect, including sexual harm. It is usually focused on those groups that are deemed vulnerable, such as children, young people and those adults who are perhaps more open to discrimination and exploitation through their physical, mental or intellectual impairments. Individual and structural prejudices based on age, disability and health underpin the construction of such vulnerability, and these are complicated by other factors such as gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality and class.

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