Report a concern

In an emergency situation call the Police on 999.

If you think there has been a crime but it is not an emergency, call the Police on 101.

If you are concerned about yourself or another adult who may be being abused or neglected, contact Adult Social Care in the area in which the person lives, on the numbers, email address or by completed an online form below:

Reading – call 0118 9373747 or email at CSAAdvice.Signposting@reading.gov.uk or complete a online form

West Berkshire – call 01635 519056 or email safeguardingadults@westberks.gov.uk or complete a online form

Wokingham call 0118 974 6371 or email Adultsafeguardinghub@wokingham.gov.uk or complete a online form

For help out of normal working hours contact the Emergency Duty Team on 01344 351 999 or email edt@bracknell-forest.gov.uk

Do:

• Stay calm and listen
• Take what you are being told seriously
• Offer support to help them stop the abuse happening
• Be aware that medical or other evidence might be needed
• Make a written note of what you have been told
• Contact Adult Social Care in your local Council without delay.

Do not:

• Press the person for more details
• Assume that someone else will take action
• Contact the alleged abuser
• Promise to keep it a secret

What Will Happen Next?

Trained staff will carry out a careful and sensitive enquiry. What happens then will depend on the wishes of the person concerned and the seriousness of their situation. If they are in danger, ensuring their safety will be of utmost importance.

Information and advice will be offered so that the person can make an informed choice about any practical help they need or action they wish to take. If they are unable to make an informed choice, care will be taken to support or protect them.

To contact Children’s Social Care, please select from the list below based on the child’s home address.

• Reading: 0118 937 3641
• West Berkshire: 01635 503090
• Wokingham: 0118 908 8002
• For all these areas, contact the Emergency Duty Team on 01344 351 999 outside of normal working hours.

Local Safeguarding Children’s Boards

Each area is a member of the Berkshire West Safeguarding Children Partnership, their website can be found here.

Female Genital Mutilation risk and the summer holidays

FGM is the practice of removing part or all of the external female genitalia, by cutting with a blade, for non-medical reasons. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. This highly distressing act is usually performed by a non-medically trained person, often a female elder in a community, often with rudimentary instruments and no anaesthetic.

FGM is solely a cultural practice, with no basis in any religious teachings. It is highly distressing, can cause severe long term  physical and psychological issues including bleeding, infection and even death.

Everyone has a duty to safeguard children and the issue of FGM requires services to be vigilant to the signs that a girl may be at risk of this extremely damaging and illegal act. The Summer holiday period is a particularly vulnerable time for girls from practising communities, as the long absence from school allows time for them to heal after being cut. Girls are often taken out of the country to undergo FGM, however it is now thought that cutting can happen here at home, so we all need to be aware of signs and indicators that a girl is at risk of being cut, or has actually been cut.

The link to the Berkshire Procedures online for FGM is below. This provides clear pathways of what to do if you are worried: http://www.proceduresonline.com/berks/reading/p_fem_gen_mutil.html?zoom_highlight=FGM

It is vital that front line staff in all domains are vigilant to girls who may be from communities who practice FGM (see world map) and any potential risk posed where an extended family holiday to their homeland is planned. The list of countries on this map is not exhaustive. It is important that we are open minded.