Safeguarding Our Children, Engaging Our Community

Debbie Ariyo

(on the eve of its fifth anniversary, Debbie Ariyo, Director of AFRUCA examines child safeguarding issues within the UK African community and concludes that despite AFRUCA’s five years of advocacy work, more needs to be done to engage communities in order to protect vulnerable children)

Five years is a very long time in child protection. Yet it seemed only like yesterday when AFRUCA – Africans Unite Against Child Abuse was established in May 2001 as a platform for the promotion of the welfare of African children. Since then, so much has happened. The government consultation document: Every Child Matters has come and gone with long lasting ramifications for policy and practice on child safeguarding. A new Children’s Act 2004 has been enacted with new legislation to further protect vulnerable children. The Female Genital Mutilation Act has been strengthened with a more severe sentence for perpetrators, among other things. Local Area Child Protection Committees have mutated into Safeguarding Children’s Boards with responsibility for local safeguarding issues and for the first time, a law on people trafficking has been put in place criminalizing the practice and protecting victims.

Despite the above however, the time couldn’t be ripe for a more concerted approach in efforts to safeguard vulnerable children in new African communities. According to the 2001 census, there are over 587,000 Africans in the UK. This figure is of course way off the mark since it excludes a number of groups, including those in the country illegally. 78% of the above live in London. In 2003, 41% of asylum applications were from Africa. Africans are the fastest growing ethnic minority group in the UK – overtaking African caribbeans and other groups. In addition, the number of African children in the UK grew from about 96,667 in 1992 to about 145,667 in 2000 – a phenomenal 50% increase over the eight-year period.

This rapid increase in the population of Africans of course brings attendant social problems with significant implications for the children in those communities. As with all migrant groups, social exclusion and poverty are rife among new African communities. There is a high level of unemployment and underemployment since new arrivals tend to find it difficult to access good quality paid jobs, despite a high level of educational qualifications in some cases. In addition, as new migrants, most lack access to good quality housing – a high proportion live on the most deprived estates in the key urban conurbations including London, Manchester and Birmingham. Africans also have the lowest rate of home ownership in the country. Due to a combination of the above, there is an increase in health problems including mental health and high blood pressure, experienced by members of the different African communities. Lack of stability and uncertainty about immigration status and general living conditions has spurred an increasing high rate of domestic violence among Africans with more children at risk as victims. Access to health and social care is also poor, partly because a number lack access to state care due to their status. In some communities, substance abuse is becoming quite rampant, with a high proportion of the male population at risk.

Despite the challenges facing them, Africans are one of the most hardworking and diligent groups in the UK. It is not unusual to see many people combining two, even three jobs to make ends meet. Not only that, a visit to many institutions of higher learning in the south of the country will reveal a high proportion of African students. The quest for educational attainment is a culture instilled in the average African from quite young. In Nigeria where I grew up, the joke is that “you go to school or you die”. There is no alternative. Unfortunately, more recently, the idea of education as the key to a good quality adult life has been defeated by conflict, massive corruption and mismanagement in most African countries that has led to a high level of graduate unemployment, poverty, destitution and subsequently the urge to migrate to better climes to discover that elusive “better life”.

Immigration however does not happen in a vacuum as people tend to take their practices, beliefs, customs and cultures with them when they migrate. Over the past 10 years or so, it is interesting to see how considerably the demography of London has shifted as more people from different parts of the world move to different areas, bringing with them the richness of their culture, food, music and a wide range of other qualities that have helped to make London the most multicultural city in Europe. A trip to Brixton market in South London will leave you in no doubt you are somewhere in West Africa, with the wide array of African-ware on display. Take a bus ride from one end of Old Kent Road (also in South London) to another and you will count at least 20 different African evangelical, pentecostal churches preaching their gospels and competing for members. They are always usually packed full on Sundays. Africans are becoming well entrenched in the UK, with their cultures and beliefs dictating their ways of life and ultimately their needs, priorities and in certain instances, inadequacies, in how children are brought up. I said inadequacies because despite well meaning intentions, there are instances where cultural practices are known to significantly put children at risk of abuse and harm with dire consequences for the children themselves and their families.

Increasingly, different local authorities across the country continue to report cases of African families coming to the attention of social services due mainly to different child rearing practices which conflict with the laws of the land. A high proportion of African children on the child protection register in most local authorities across London, for example, are placed under the category of physical abuse. African children are most likely to end up on the child protection register under this category than say, sexual abuse. Almost every week, AFRUCA receives calls from different local authorities across the country, asking for advice on cases involving the issue of physical punishment, how to keep families together and at the same time ensure the child’s safety and protection. Due to the strong stance on physical punishment as the most effective form of discipline, the resultant abuse means a number of children are being lost to the care system, leading to African families becoming more and more fragmented.

The issue of Female Genital Mutilation is one that has generated a lot of debate about where abuse ends and culture begins. Various groups estimate that at least 114 million women world-wide have had the operation with an approximated 2 million mutilated every year. The 2003 UK law against Female Genital Mutilation makes it an offence for anyone to mutilate, assist or counsel someone in order to mutilate a child with up to 14 years in prison as punishment. However, while families and communities steeped in the practice continue to see FGM as an important rite of passage for their children on the path to womanhood, it seems we are all still at a loss about how to protect vulnerable children who are at risk of long lasting consequences once the procedure is performed on them. While a lot of emphasise is being placed on reaching families who might decide to take children back to key countries, for example, Somalia to have the procedure carried out on them, it is interesting to note that little efforts are being made to devise a pan European approach to dealing with this problem. In a number of European countries, for example Ireland, FGM is not illegal. This means it is possible that families are taking their daughters to these countries unsuspectingly to have the procedures done. Most crucially, very little efforts are made to reach out to communities here in the UK, especially the non-visible ones - many of whom are ignorant of the new law criminalizing the practice.

The trafficking of children for a variety of purposes has received so much attention in the media it is difficult to be unaware of this phenomenon. From the death of Victoria Climbie to Boy Adam and the myriad of cases dealt with on a daily basis at different ports of entry into the country, by various social services child protection departments and community organisations like AFRUCA, it is certain that child trafficking is a growing problem in the country. Fuelled by chronic poverty and deprivation, conflict and the devastation caused by the HIV/AIDS pandemic which has left at least 5 million African children with no parents, child trafficking has become a major global problem with the UK having its fair share. Recently, the UK government launched a consultation on proposals for a UK Action Plan to combat the problem. While it is difficult to ascertain the dimension of the problem or how many child victims are involved, there is ample evidence to suggest the vulnerability of children from abroad to exploitation in the UK for a number of purposes including domestic servitude, sexual exploitation and benefit fraud. In addition, many of the victims, who may have been privately fostered, suffer additional harm including physical and mental or emotional abuse. The key point to highlight here is that most child victims are trafficked by members of their own communities and are exploited and abused within their own communities. It therefore goes without saying that efforts to combat the trafficking of children will have to imbibe a collaborative approach bringing together policymakers with practitioners and communities to devise ways to safeguard vulnerable children and educate communities about its role in this regard.

The brouhaha in the media about African churches performing rituals using children may have been over-hyped but it is certain that strategies need to be put in place to safeguard children at risk of being accused of witchcraft and the attendant abuse this might engender. In certain communities, it is customary for misfortunes, bad turns and social failures to be attributed to the work of an evil-doer or a witch. Increasingly and for a wide range of reasons, children are becoming scape-goated as witches, more so if it’s a child living with people who are not his or her parents. Furthermore, the role of some African churches in all of the above need to be examined. Combining their own brand of Christianity with traditional African practices, and thriving under the notion of prosperity as evidence of being a successful Christian, the churches provide a shelter, the promise of deliverance from evil and the granting of miracles for a better life. People throng to churches to experience the promised prosperity and a “spiritual” solution to their problems. If this does not happen, then the cause is put down to a witch who doesn’t wish well for his or her victims. Usually, this person is a close member of the family. Once designated or confirmed by a Pastor, it usually follows that the evil-doer or witch is ostracised, treated with contempt, abused and even harmed as a way of punishment for the evil deeds. Increasingly, children are being scape-goated with a lot of adverse consequences for child protection. There have been a number of cases of this nature across the country, and there will undeniably be more.

The above examples highlight some of the developments experienced by a new community, unfamiliar with the term “child protection” and perturbed by the role of the state in child upbringing – a role largely absent in their countries of origin. For most people, child upbringing has always been a community affair – it takes a village to raise a child. All of a sudden, the state has taken over that role - its position largely strengthened by a wide array of laws nobody has ever bothered to reveal, but the consequences of flouting which can be as dire and permanent as losing your child. This feeling of helplessness is compounded by the limited knowledge and skills presented by practitioners of the cultural dynamics guiding certain child rearing practices to enable proper intervention to safeguard children and keep families together.

So where does AFRUCA come into all these? As an organisation rooted within the African community we are the only charity working in our community in the area of child safeguarding and are therefore uniquely placed to make a significant and positive difference to the lives of African children in the UK. This we achieve in a number of ways. Firstly, in recognition of the challenges children themselves are bound to experience in their new lives in the country and the attendant problems this might cause, AFRUCA has pioneered a series of Induction Programmes for newly arrived African children and their families. For the children and young people, the programmes offer personal development models to enable them acclimatise and excel in their new environments and help protect themselves from abuse and bullying which can be a common experience for children in their position. AFRUCA has held 3 different sessions with a further two planned for March 2006 with funding from the Bridge House Trust.

The parents Induction Programme focus on familiarising parents with children’s rights and the rules and regulations governing child protection in the country. Parents are signposted to sources of help and information about preventative services. They also benefit from meeting other parents in similar situations and are afforded the opportunity to share experiences and information about their situations.

As an organisation, AFRUCA has been at the forefront in efforts to promote community engagement in child safeguarding. It is evident that most of the abuse and exploitation children from different African communities experience can be prevented with better awareness and education of the consequences of certain practices on children and their long-term well-being. As part of our London Advocacy Project funded by the Big lottery, AFRUCA has organised a series of community focus groups to engage members of the community in child protection. It is interesting to discover that most people’s understanding of what constitutes child exploitation is different from the state’s interpretation of it. Child work within the home is a common phenomenon in African culture. For most people, it is difficult to draw a line between this and child exploitation. This means when a child is being abused and exploited, the only people around her who might be able to help might not consider the severity of the case, and therefore fail to offer the necessary help and support for the victim.

For this reason, we believe a mass awareness campaign is needed to draw attention to the issue of child trafficking and child abuse in general, and provide people with the necessary information needed to help safeguard vulnerable children. While as an organisation we have been able to achieve a measure of success in reaching out to communities, much more could be achieved with proper government support and funding. Currently, there is no single government programme in place to support work on child trafficking in the country.

In our role as a bridge between the African community and statutory organisations working in child protection, AFRUCA has also pioneered a series of regional conferences: “Safeguarding African Children in the UK”, to provide a platform for deliberation on child safeguarding within the African community. The idea is to enable practitioners and policymakers gain better knowledge, improved skills and understanding of the challenges facing African children and their own roles in addressing this.

AFRUCA has so far held 5 regional events with two in London, and one each in Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle, in partnership with local government agencies. Further events are planned for Liverpool, Cardiff and Glasgow. Our key hope is that these will lead to the development of partnerships and better collaborations between local and regional agencies and local African communities to help safeguard vulnerable children. So far this seems to be happening especially in London where practitioners are more confident in approaching and working with community organisations on cases involving African families and where more groups are being represented on Local Safeguarding Boards to provide advice and input.

Clearly, so much is happening in the area of child safeguarding and much more needs to be done. As an organisation, we have gained five years experience of working in the field, but much more needs to be learnt. It is our hope that with proper support and resources, we can continue to make a positive impact in the lives of our children and help keep families together.

Debbie Ariyo is Executive Director of AFRUCA – Africans Unite Against Child Abuse, an organisation promoting the welfare of African children in the UK. For further information visit www.afruca.org