Latest news with #childProtection
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Humberside Police issue warning over pupils' WhatsApp groups
Police have warned schools about two chat groups containing racist, violent and pornographic an email forwarded by schools to parents, Humberside Police said the WhatsApp groups were created by local schoolchildren and were causing "great concern".It also said "a number of unknown paedophiles are also using these groups to gain access to children".WhatsApp owner Meta said it offered the option to block content and "users can report content or groups they believe break our terms of service". The email sent on Thursday morning by the force's Safer Schools team said all schools in the Humberside Police area had been contacted and encouraged to advise parents to report any information about the groups to officers because they were being accessed by than 180 people are members of the "These Guys Are Bad" and "All The Bad Guys" groups, the force Iain Pottage said parents should talk to their children about the risks involved using social media and the said officers worked with schools to warn them of "any emerging risks online"."We also have a dedicated police online investigations team who work with a variety of other agencies to help promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people," he said."We all work together to keep children safe, and we all play a role in helping to create a safer online community."A Meta spokesperson said: "We give all users controls for who can add them to groups and the first time you receive a message from an unknown number we give you the option to block and report the account."All users can report content or groups they believe break our terms of service and we respond to valid requests from law enforcement." Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Transport secretary vows to tighten taxi licensing laws
Ministers have vowed to pass laws to tackle inconsistent taxi and private hire standards amid fears some vehicles "are a dangerous place for many children and young people".Labour MP for Tipton and Wednesbury Antonia Bance spoke in the Commons on Thursday to ask what the government was doing about local taxi licensing referred to Wolverhampton, where applications are believed to be quicker and cheaper than those made Secretary Heidi Alexander said the matter was being taken "very seriously", promising to hold local authorities not following compliance to account. In January, the prime minister tasked Baroness Casey with conducting a rapid review into grooming gangs and child sexual findings, published on 17 June, identified "many cases of group-based child sexual exploitation" as having links with said: "Last week, the Casey review showed us yet again that private hire vehicles are a dangerous place for many children and young people.""What action is the minister going to take to make sure that local taxi licensing is done locally to high standards?" 'Lack of stringency' Alexander told MPs: "Baroness Casey has rightly brought this issue into sharp focus and we've committed to legislating this issue."We will work as quickly as possible and consider all options including out-of-area working, national standards and enforcement, seeking the best overall outcome for passenger safety."Baroness Casey dedicated a chapter of her audit to taxi licensing. It said taxis had historically been identified in a minority of cases as a way children became at risk of sexual exploitation."Both as a potential way for perpetrators to meet their victims, as well as a means of trafficking victims to different locations and introducing them to other perpetrators," the review later added: "A lack of stringency means that drivers who are unscrupulous can apply to a lax neighbouring borough" for a licence, and urged the government to "close these loopholes urgently". 'Illegal to refuse applicants' Licensed taxi drivers are allowed to operate anywhere in England and Wales and are not tied to the district where they got their licence.A report by Taxi Point highlighted 96% of Wolverhampton approved taxi and private hire licence holders lived outside the city between April 2023 and March 2024. City of Wolverhampton Council told the BBC safeguarding was its "number one priority" in taxi licensing and that it was "the first to implement the government's statutory standards and best practice guidance".A spokesman said. "It is illegal for the council to refuse applicants a taxi licence on the basis of where they live."It is also illegal for licensing authorities to impose a limit on the number of private hire licences they issue."The council does not gain financially from taxi licensing, as the fees are legally ring-fenced for spend only on related activities." Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Times of Oman
4 days ago
- Politics
- Times of Oman
UN: 2024 witnessed record number of grave violations against children in conflicts in nearly 30 years
Geneva: The United Nations (UN) reported that 2024 witnessed the highest number of grave violations against children in armed conflict in nearly 30 years and pointed out that the highest amount of grave violations was documented in the occupied Palestinian territories, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Nigeria, and Haiti. Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba stated in her briefing to an open debate of the UN Security Council that wars and armed conflicts inflict horrific levels of violence on children. "It is as if parties to war and conflict, and we, the international community, choose to settle our disputes through military means at an enormous cost for our children, rather than choosing to negotiate peace for the benefit of all children," she added. "We cannot continue to stand by and watch with no action what is happening to the children globally, and especially in Gaza. The scale of destruction and suffering borne by the children of Gaza defies and contravenes every human standard. There is no justification for depriving children of access to the means for their survival, including access to food, healthcare, and security," Gamba stressed. The UN official highlighted the importance of providing sustainable resources to mitigate these violations, noting the difficulties they faced in monitoring, verification, and reporting. "The reduction of child protection expertise will lead to the inability to verify violations and, more importantly, identify perpetrators of such violations," she added.
Arab News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Saudi UN envoy demands global action to protect kids in conflict zones, condemns Gaza violence
NEW YORK CITY: Saudi Arabia's permanent representative to the UN, Abdulaziz Alwasil, called on Wednesday for urgent international action to protect children in conflict zones, warning that failure to do so would undermine efforts to build more stable and prosperous societies. Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting convened to discuss the effects of armed conflicts on youngsters, Alwasil emphasized the importance of protecting children, describing it as a legal obligation and moral responsibility, particularly in nations affected by prolonged violence. During the session, UN officials detailed an unprecedented surge in the number of grave violations against children during armed conflicts worldwide. The meeting followed the publication of a devastating annual report by the UN secretary-general's special representative for children and armed conflict, Virginia Gamba. It documented 41,370 grave violations against children during 2024, a 25 percent increase compared with the previous year, and the highest number since the UN's Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism was established in 2005. The verified abuses of children spanned 25 countries and included killings, maiming, recruitment, abductions, sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of access to humanitarian assistance. 'This year marked a devastating new record,' Gamba told council members. 'Behind these numbers are the shattered stories, dreams and futures of over 22,000 children.' She cited a sharp increase in 'compounded violations,' in which children were abducted, recruited and sexually abused, often simultaneously, in the context of deteriorating humanitarian crises. Israel was responsible for the highest number of violations by a single country against children in 2024, the report stated. Alwasil said: 'As we approach the 20th anniversary of Resolution 1612, which established mechanisms for monitoring violations against children in armed conflict, the international community must focus on two priorities: We must break the cycle of violence and create an environment that rejects extremism and fosters resilience.' The envoy expressed appreciation for Gamba's work, and emphasized the Kingdom's commitment to the application of international legal instruments, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocols. He stressed the shared responsibility of all parties for the protection of children and for efforts to address the root causes of armed violence. Turning to the crisis in Gaza in particular, Alwasil sharply rebuked Israeli authorities over their military operations in the territory. 'What is happening in Gaza now is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and humanitarian values,' he said. 'Civilians live under constant bombardment and a suffocating blockade, facing systematic aggression by Israeli armed forces. This has led to the deaths of 55,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.' The war has deprived more than 1 million children in Gaza of basic necessities, including food and medicine, Alwasil said. He called for immediate international action to end the conflict, protect vulnerable populations and hold accountable those responsible for violations. 'The Kingdom affirms that the protection of children in areas of armed conflict is a legal duty that cannot be shirked, and a moral responsibility that cannot be ignored,' he concluded. 'Saudi Arabia supports all UN efforts aimed at protecting civilians, and enhancing international cooperation to respond to the suffering of children affected by war, wherever they may be.'
Telegraph
4 days ago
- Telegraph
Edinburgh school ‘protected' abusers for decades
Merchiston Castle School, which charges annual fees of up to £50,000, issued an 'unreserved apology', with headmaster Jonathan Anderson and Gareth Baird, chairman of the board of governors, describing Lady Smith's report as 'detailed, fair and, at times, a difficult read'. They added: 'It uncovers a history of unacceptable abuse suffered by many former pupils and highlights the enduring impact on their lives decades later. 'To all those who suffered abuse while in the care of Merchiston Castle School, we offer our most sincere and unreserved apology. No child should ever suffer harm, especially not in a place that exists to nurture and educate. Those who were abused by their teachers or their fellow pupils deserved better, and we are truly sorry that they were so badly let down.' The report said indecency occurred from the 1950s to the 2010s, however Lady Smith said that 'by the early 2000s, Merchiston thought itself a leader in the child protection field'. Abusers protected by 'tradition' Lady Smith said that 'references were badly handled and child protection concerns ignored', while voyeurism and indecent assaults were common. She added: 'Abusers, and potential abusers, were sometimes protected by tradition, long service, or governor loyalty.' The findings, part of the inquiry's overall boarding schools case study, found that 'in common with Loretto School, Morrison's Academy, Gordonstoun, and Queen Victoria School, children who boarded at Merchiston were exposed to risks of suffering sexual, physical and emotional abuse'. Lady Smith concluded the two main perpetrators at Merchiston were 'virtually untouchable'. Normalised abusive behaviour She said: 'From the 1950s to the second decade of the 21st century, there was a more or less continuous line of consistent indecency perpetrated by two prolific abusers, Mervyn Preston and James Rainy Brown. 'The former taught the latter, who then returned to Merchiston as a teacher, after which they worked together. 'They engaged in abusive behaviour which became normalised for generations of boys. 'In the cases of both those men, their longstanding service and positions of power in boarding houses rendered them virtually untouchable. 'In total, eight teachers abused children sexually. Seven were male and one was female. 'Conduct included voyeurism, encouraging nudity, indecent exposure, indecent assaults, and in the case of the female, it included encouraging senior pupils to engage in sexual intercourse with her.' 'Obvious abusive trends' She said the school's strong culture of rugby and sport left those who did not fit in vulnerable to abuse and bullying. She said by the millennium, the school was 'content to rely on positive but, in fact, inadequate and insufficiently critical' inspections, while 'obvious abusive trends' were missed – until 2014 when a wider police inquiry revealed many longstanding weaknesses in child protection and pastoral care. Following a poor inspection report in 2015, Merchiston was made subject to special measures by the Scottish government. It was obliged to respond, and Lady Smith said it was 'well led by its board of governors', and policies 'were corrected and became meaningful'. 'Deep and lasting harm' Mr Anderson and Mr Baird added: 'That sexual, physical and emotional abuse of children at our school was allowed to continue for so long is deeply upsetting and we respect and we thank our former pupils who had the courage and bravery to speak about their experiences in evidence to the inquiry. 'Their collective testimonies painted a picture of a school that fostered a culture of fear, bullying and abuse that is hard to fathom, and unrecognisable with the school that exists today. 'We fully accept these criticisms, we acknowledge these failures, and we recognise the deep and lasting harm that was caused. The school is wholeheartedly committed to ensuring the lessons of the past are fully learned. 'Safeguarding is our number one priority and the wellbeing of the young people in our care is of paramount importance to us. 'Following a negative inspection report in 2015, Merchiston was placed under special measures by the Scottish Government. This was a turning point and as Lady Smith recognises in her report, we responded promptly and decisively.'
