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Emotional abuse

Home » Get Help and Advice » Why? » Emotional abuse

Under 1 minute read

It can be difficult for families to understand exactly what practitioners mean when they talk about emotional abuse.

Government statutory guidance called Working Together 2018 describes emotional abuse as:

‘The persistent emotional maltreatment of a child to the extent that it has a severe impact on the child’s emotional development’

This page explains more about emotional abuse.

When might emotional abuse occur? What might it involve?

Children of any age can suffer emotional abuse. Emotional abuse can occur on its own. But may be experienced as part of other types of abuse.

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What effect can emotional abuse have on a child’s development?

The effect that emotional abuse has on a child’s emotional development varies. It may have short and longer term effects.

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What may happen if children’s services are concerned a child is suffering, or likely to suffer emotional abuse?

If children’s services suspect a child is suffering significant harm or is likely to suffer significant harm, they must investigate. This is called making child protection enquiries.

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What if children’s services think a child is unsafe at home because of emotional abuse?

In this situation children’s services may decide they need to begin a pre-proceedings process. Or if they think a child needs immediate protection they may consider other steps including seeking orders in the Family Court.

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