Safeguarding Children and Adults

Safeguarding processes refer to all the processes that are designed to protect both children and adults from any harm in the United Kingdom. In the case of children, these processes are designed to ensure that all children are protected from impairment of their development or health (Hughes & Owen 2009). Safeguarding processes also help to ensure that all the adults are in an environment that is safe and ensures that they are protected from any form of maltreatment.

Several policies have been set up to ensure effective safeguarding of both adults and children. One of the policies that have been set to ensure effective safeguard for all the children is collaboration between the United Kingdom government and local safeguarding children boards in order to ensure that the welfare of all children is observed (Collins 2009). Another key policy that is designed to safeguard children in United Kingdom is continuous assessment of the way that children are treated in their families. This helps in ensuring that children live safely while spending time with their families. Policies have also been set up in United Kingdom in order to protect vulnerable adults. Examples of some of the policies that have been set up in order to protect adults include setting up internal procedures to deal with cases of possible abuse. Legislations have also been set up in order to safeguard children and adults. Examples of these legislations include Sexual Offences Act of 2003. This act prevents both children and adult from the risk of being raped (Hughes & Owen 2009). It also protects them from the risk of any form of sexual harassment. The Human Rights Act of 1998 protects children and adults from physical abuse. Physical abuse may occur in the form of torture or battering. The Common Assessment Framework for Children and Young People 2005 also helps to safeguard all the children. This act requires that all the children and young people who have special needs to be given special treatment after such needs are identified early.

Vulnerable Adults

According to a report produced by the BBC, about 96,000 cases of abuse involving vulnerable adults were reported (Hughes & Owen 2009). More than 1/3 of the reported cases involved physical abuse.  The other cases involved massive neglect, emotional abuse and sexual abuse.  In four out of the ten cases reported, the abuse on the vulnerable adult happened in his/her home. Three out of ten reported cases happened in the residential care of the adults. After this report, the public argued that all the policies and legislations should be strengthened in order to ensure that vulnerable adults are protected. It was necessary to enforce the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act in order to ensure that all adults are safe from any abuse occurring in their homes. Sexual Offences Act of 2003 also helps to protect the vulnerable adults and children against sexual offences (Collins 2009).

Human Rights

Several issues on Human Rights occur while safeguarding vulnerable adults and children from abuse. Some people still feel torture is necessary in order to get critical information from people threatening national security (Hughes & Owen 2009). However, this is not acceptable under the Human Rights. Overall, it is important to safeguard children and adults. Safeguarding of children will help them to grow up becoming responsible people in the society. In addition, it will help them to live healthy lives since their lives will not be at stake. Adults will also be protected from any form of physical or emotional violence. This will help in ensuring that they are not affected by psychological problems such as posttraumatic stress disorder. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the government of United Kingdom to ensure that it implements policies and legislations that are directed towards safeguarding adults and children.