In May 2001, following the deaths of some newly arrived immigrant children in the UK, Debbie Ariyo a UK Civil Servant, started what was then Africans Unite Against Child Abuse (AFRUCA) as a platform for advocating for the rights and welfare of African children. It became a Company Limited by Guarantee in October 2001 and a registered Charity in July 2002 with a Board of Trustees appointed to run the organisation. In February 2020, based on the expansion in its work and activities, the Board of Trustees resolved to change the name of the charity to AFRUCA – Safeguarding Children
Our History
We promote the well-being and protection of children and families in Black and ethnic communities across the UK using a cultural-competent, trauma-informed and evidence based approach. The children and families we support often face multiple, complex Adverse Childhood Experiences, including abuse linked to cultural and religious practices such as witchcraft branding, female genital mutilation and forced marriage, as well as neglect, domestic abuse, child exploitation and modern slavery. Many are newly arrived in the UK and carry trauma from conflict, displacement and family separation.
These experiences are compounded by poverty, housing instability, school exclusion and systemic racism. When layered with fear, stigma and a lack of trust in services, many are unable or discouraged from seeking help, deepening their vulnerability.
Our demographically representative staff and Board bring deep community insight, enabling us to build trust and act as a vital bridge between our communities and statutory services.
Through our “Networks of Influence”, we work with others to influence anti-racism, equality, diversity and inclusion in related policy, research and practice areas to help promote the well-being of children. We are based in London and Manchester.
The 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of The Child and various UK Child Protection legislations provide the foundation for all our work at AFRUCA. We aim to promote the best interests of the child in all our activities. Our stance is that culture and religion should never be reasons to abuse, exploit or harm children.
Read our Children and Vulnerable Adults Safeguarding Policy and Procedures which guides all our work with children and vulnerable adults
What do we mean by “Culturally Competent”, “Culturally Sensitive” or “Culturally Responsive”
Our AFRUCA team is composed of Trustees, volunteers and staff who might share similar background, childhood or adulthood lived experiences, migration pattern, cultural affinity, language, same race, gender or country of origin with our service users. This means that in many cases, we have firsthand experience of the issues they face because we have also experienced similar issues. We are able to provide a service based on empathy that is non judgemental, non discriminatory, non oppressive because we can stand in the same shoes as our service users. We are multilingual and able to work with many families in their first spoken language. Languages spoken at AFRUCA include Yoruba, Edo, Twi, Mandinka, Fullah, Amharic, Tigrinya, French and Pidgin English . Additionally, we have different levels of fluency in other languages which includes Fanti, Ibo and Patois.
Our Mission
Our Vision
Our vision is to see a world in which children from Black and Ethnic communities can live free of cruelty, exploitation, abuse and harm at the hands of others.
OUR SIX THEMATIC Work Areas
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Working to support children, young adults and families in crisis or at the point of breakdown through effective early intervention and crisis intervention services.
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Working closely with policy makers to shape the development of policy and regulatory action to promote the well-being and protection of children and young adults.
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Within Black and Ethnic communities and youths about children’s rights as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international conventions and UK legislation promoting the rights, well-being and protection of children.
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We play a leading role in influencing local and national policy on child protection, youth justice, modern slavery and child trafficking, by bringing together statutory and community organisations in formal networks to improve collaboration and hold authorities accountable.
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To raise the profile of Black and Ethnic children in the UK, increase awareness of their needs and vulnerabilities, improve policies and practices to prevent and adress adverse childhood experiences. Activities include research and publishing reports; media engagement; conferences, seminars, workshops, and training programmes for policy makers, service providers, parents, faith and community leaders, young people; communities.
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In partnership with others in our community, to put in place programmes and services to help relieve some of the suffering, harm and hardship that Black and Ethnic children experience.
AFRUCA and The Six Principles of Safeguarding Children
Protection
The best interests of the child is paramount. Our charity seeks to ensure children are safe from abuse, harm, exploitation and other adverse experiences and that parents can provide a safe environment for their children.
Prevention and Early Intervention
Our work focuses on assessing the cultural and trans-cultural issues involved in child abuse and exploitation cases within and outside the family unit. We provide education programmes and toolkits on various child protection issues in different communities to help improve understanding of how to protect children from abuse, exploitation and harm.
Accountability
We receive the mandate for our work from the communities we serve. We serve as a bridge between our communities and the statutory services working to address child abuse, exploitation, trafficking and other forms of adverse childhood experiences.
Partnerships
AFRUCA works nationwide with statutory agencies, other charities, local authorities, law enforcement agencies, legal practitioners, communities, faith organisations and families in the safeguarding and protection of children.
Empowerment
AFRUCA works in a non-judgemental, non-oppressive manner to support families, communities to learn new skills, which would lead to better protection for children in communities and enable better parenting of children, providing a loving and nurturing environment and preventing abuse and harm.
Proportionality
We have zero tolerance of child abuse, child trafficking and exploitation. However, our intervention is based on the premise that change can occur through effective collaboration and joint-working with families and affected communities.
Our
People