The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
Why we’re here:
Everything we do protects children today and prevents abuse tomorrow, to transform society for every childhood.
That’s why we’re here and that’s what drives all of our work. But it’s only possible with everyone’s support.
How we do this:
We work in the following areas to achieve change on behalf of children:
- Directly with children in primary schools READ
- Directly with children and families via therapeutic services across the UK READ
- We offer national and specialist helpline services including Childline READ
- We conduct ground breaking research READ
- We offer support advice to children and families READ
- We campaign for real change and lobby government READ
Why do we do this:
Last 12 months:
- Reports to our helpline of physical abuse increased by 53% during lockdown, with concerns about emotional abuse increasing by nearly a quarter.
- Since April (2020), almost a quarter of all contacts to our helpline were from adults concerned about the impact of parental behaviour on children.
- Childline has delivered around 19,000 counselling sessions each month throughout the Coronavirus pandemic.
- With at least a third of sexual offences against children being committed by other young people, it’s vital this is addressed.
The statistics below are approved for external use:
1 in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused
Source: Radford et al (2011) Child abuse and neglect in the UK today. London: NSPCC.
Over 90% of sexually abused children were abused by someone they knew.
Source: Based on additional analysis of the NSPCC study Radford et al (2011) Child abuse and neglect in the UK today. London: NSPCC.
1 in 3 children sexually abused by an adult did not tell anyone what had happened to them
Source: Radford et al (2011) Child abuse and neglect in the UK today. London: NSPCC.
Child sexual abuse costs the UK an estimated £3.2bn a year
Source: Saied-Tessier, A. (2014) Estimating the costs of child sexual abuse in the UK. London: NSPCC.
Our NSPCC ‘PANTS’ campaign
Over 1.5 million parents have had at least one conversation with their child about PANTS
We know that simple conversations can make a big difference, and that’s what our PANTS campaign is all about.
PANTS teaches children important messages, like their body belongs to them and they should tell an adult if they’re upset or worried. We have developed a range of PANTS guides for parents, carers and children including guides in 5 different languages and guides for people with a disability READ
PANTS stands for...
Always remember your body belongs to you
No means no
Talk about secrets that upset you
Speak up, someone can help
The NSPCC Schools Service – ‘Speak out Stay safe’ programme
Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU)
The Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU) is part of the NSPCC and is funded by Sport England, Sport Northern Ireland, Sport Wales and UK Sport.
(In Scotland, there’s a similar partnership between Children 1st and Sport Scotland)
The CPSU was founded in 2001 in response to a series of high-profile cases of abuse of young athletes. Our aim is to help improve safeguarding and child protection practises within sport organisations, to ensure all children and young people are safe while participating in sport: READ
