i. A child in this document refers to anyone under the age of 18 years.
ii. A vulnerable adult is a person over 18 years who is unable to look after themselves, protect themselves from harm or exploitation or are unable to report abuse.
iii. A Jesus Youth Location includes the programmes, groups, travels, gatherings and establishments, whether on site or virtual, related to the association.
iv. Abuse can be categorised into 5 different types: emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, financial abuse and spiritual abuse. A child may be subject to one or more of these at any given time. Detailed definitions have been included in Appendix 2.
-
Physical abuse may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating, or otherwise causing physical harm to a child. Physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces illness in a child.
-
Emotional abuse is the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and persistent adverse effects on the child’s emotional development.
-
Neglect is the persistent failure to meet a child’s basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child’s health or development.
-
Sexual abuse could be physical, psychological, emotional or verbal with sexual overtones. It includes any act or interaction whether it involves genital or physical contact, with or without consent, even if initiated by the minor. Sexual abuse can involve sexual contact, molestation or sexual exploitation of a child by any person, whether physical injuries are sustained or not.
-
Financial abuse is a form of mistreatment and exploitation involving the unauthorised or improper use of an individual’s financial resources for another person’s benefit. It can include a range of behaviours such as theft, fraud, exploitation, or the use of undue influence to gain control over a person’s money or property.
-
Spiritual abuse is a form of emotional and psychological abuse in which a person’s religious beliefs are used to harm, coerce, control, manipulate, or exploit them.