Duty to notify violence against a child

Duty to notify violence against a child 

These guidelines are intended to support child welfare and other authorities working with children in situations where suspicions arise that a child is or has been subjected to violence. The guideline can be used especially by persons who have a duty to notify violence against a child to the police.

Who has a duty to notify?

Children have the right to be protected against all forms of violence and exploitation. The person who has custody of a child has the primarily responsibility to protect the child. Public authorities must support the person in this task or, as the last resort, organise out-of-home care for the child.
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), Articles 5, 9 and 19

The following actors have a duty to notify the police and the wellbeing services county if they suspect violence against a child:

• health and social services and children's daycare 
• providers of health and social services 
• education services 
• youth services 
• education or training providers 
• police services 
• Prison and Probation Service 
• fire and rescue services 
• parishes 
• other religious communities 
• reception centres 
• units engaged in emergency response centre activities 
• units engaged in morning and afternoon activities for schoolchildren 
• Finnish Customs 
• Finnish Boarder Guard 
• enforcement authorities 
• Social Insurance Institution of Finland 

The duty to submit a child welfare notification applies to a person who: 

• works permanently, for a fixed term or as a substitute for one of the above-mentioned parties 
• is in a position of trust in one of the above-mentioned parties 
• carries out similar tasks as an independent professional 
• is in a principal-contractor relationship with one of the above-mentioned parties 
• is a family adviser 
• is a healthcare professional. 

(Child Welfare Act (417/2007), section 25, subsection 3)

The obligation to remain silent does not prevent the person from submitting a child welfare notification. The notification duty applies to the person to whose knowledge the suspicion has come. The submission of the notification cannot be delegated to another person.

It is important that the police receive the information related to suspected violence directly from the person who has the most firsthand knowledge of what has happened. If the information concerning the suspicion has to be transferred or processed before the notification is submitted, the notification may be delayed and the information may become distorted or be lost.

You cannot skip submitting the notification even if you assume that someone else has already done it. In multiprofessional cooperation, it is sometimes possible to verify that another party has already submitted the notification. In that case, a new notification is not necessary. 

Anyone can submit a notification to the police, also a person who is not subject to the notification duty. However, the duty and the right do not apply to the seal of the confessional.

When must a notification be submitted to the police?

The duty to notify the police applies to situations in which, based on matters that have been discovered in the course of the work, there is reason to suspect that a child has been subjected to

• an act which under the provisions in chapter 20 of the Criminal Code is punishable as a sexual offence, or
• homicide or bodily injury (Criminal Code, chapter 21), if the maximum punishment for it is at least 2 years.

Homicides and bodily injuries that must be notified:

• Assault (Criminal Code, chapter 21, section 5)
• Aggravated assault (Criminal Code, chapter 21, section 6)
• Female genital mutilation (Criminal Code, chapter 21, section 6b)
• Preparing female genital mutilation (Criminal Code, chapter 21, section 6c) 
• Abandonment (Criminal Code, chapter 21, section 14)

In addition, a child welfare notification must be submitted. The notification duty applies to underage victims of violence. The notification duty does not apply to situations where the victim has already turned 18, even if the act was committed when the victim was a minor.

Violence against a child is a criminal offence. Violence and neglect of care may cause severe physical and mental injuries to the child and lead to social exclusion. At its worst, violence may lead to death.

Adults close to the child, unknown adults or other children and young people may be violent towards a child. The nature, need and urgency of the measures is determined by the form of violence and who is/are suspected of it. 

The threshold for submitting a notification must be low. However, as it is sometimes challenging to draw the line, you must ask the police, forensic psychiatry units for children and young people, or child welfare in the wellbeing services county for advice in unclear situations.

Suspected violence

A notification must be submitted when, based on matters that have come to their knowledge in the course of their work, a person has reason to suspect that an offence has been committed.

There is reason to suspect a violent offence, for example, if

• an individual with notification duty suspects it based on careful consideration and personal observations 
• the child talks about events indicating an offence, or
• physical marks or injuries on the child indicate violence.

A suspicion of violence experienced by a child may arise in many ways, for example, from: 

• the child’s external appearance
• the child’s behaviour and different kinds of symptoms
• signs of violence visible on the child, or
• the child talks about what happened in different ways.

It is worth remembering that physical abuse does not always leave visible marks. Definite evidence of the offence or the perpetrator is not needed, as it is the responsibility of the police to investigate them.

If the situation is uncertain, you can ask the police for advice without mentioning the names of the parties concerned. If necessary, the forensic psychiatry units for children and adolescents can also be consulted with a low threshold.

Informing the person who has custody of the child 

If the suspect is a member of the child’s family or a relative, it is particularly important to negotiate further action with the police and child welfare. 

The discovery of the suspected offence may put the child at risk. The suspect may pressure or threaten the child or destroy evidence. If the persons who have custody of the child cannot be informed of the suspected offence or the notification immediately for investigational reasons, child welfare must work with the police to determine how the child’s safety and welfare will be ensured. For example, if a decision on emergency placement is made in child welfare, child welfare has the duty to inform the persons who have custody of the child of this.

If the suspect is someone outside the family, the persons who have custody of the child can usually be informed of the suspicions. They can also be told that there is a duty to notify the matter to the police and child welfare. However, the procedure must first be discussed with the police.

If the perpetrator is an outsider, the person who has custody of the child usually exercises the right to speak on behalf of the child in a criminal matter and reports the offence. Nevertheless, the person with notification duty must ensure that the police are notified.

In addition, it is important to ensure that the parents receive support and help, as supporting them is also important for the child.

Taking the child to healthcare

If no decision has been made on emergency placement, the person with custody of the child has the power to make decisions on the healthcare measures concerning the child. An exception to this is a situation where a minor decides on their treatment themselves. A healthcare professional makes the assessment of the child patient’s right to self-determination.

When an emergency placement is made in connection with suspected violence, a child welfare worker can take the child to healthcare without consent from the person who has custody of the child. The child welfare worker may be present in the examination situation, but healthcare has overall responsibility for the examinations and the examination situation.

The child must always be taken to healthcare if they need healthcare measures. If necessary, a decision on emergency placement must be made. Child welfare and the police cooperate in making the decision on taking the child to the examinations. Examinations at forensic psychology units for children and adolescents are requested by the police. 
Emergency placement 
Barnahus.fi 

Submitting a notification to the police 

If you suspect that a child has recently been the target of a violent offence, initial action must be taken urgently. The police must be notified immediately so that they can initiate a pre-trial investigation. 

It is important for the police to hear the child urgently, as especially the recollections of a young child weaken faster than those of an adult, and the child is vulnerable to influencing. The examinations that the police request for the child must be performed urgently. In addition, the police should be able to access the location of the events to collect possible evidence, if the location is known.

 

• In acute situations, the notification to the police must be made by telephone to the general emergency number 112 or in a locally agreed manner. The operator at the emergency response centre forwards the information and a call request to the police concerned. Be prepared to provide the same information in the telephone notification as you would in the notification form.  
• In other situations, the notification must be submitted electronically without delay from the “Services for businesses and organisations” section of the online services of the police. 
• If it is not possible to submit an electronic notification, you can use the form below, which must be sent as a secure email to the police.

 

Form for notifying suspected offences against children (in Finnish)

If you are not certain about the situation, you can ask the police for advice without mentioning the name of the child or young person. You can also ask the forensic psychiatry unit for children and young people or child welfare for advice.

Recording the details concerning a suspected offence

In healthcare and social welfare, the following matters are recorded in documents concerning the child:

• the information that the suspicion has been notified to the police
• factors that have contributed to the suspicions
• any discussions with the child as soon as possible and word for word.

In child welfare services, the information is recorded in the child welfare client records. Healthcare services record the information in the child's patient records. As a rule, the displaying of entries related to suspected violence must be delayed in healthcare. This means that they will not be visible as such in MyKanta to the persons who have custody of the child. The police can be consulted about when the pre-trial investigation is at a stage where the child’s patient information can be disclosed to the person who has custody of the child. Other parties with notification duty record the notification and the grounds for it in accordance with the regulations and instructions concerning their administrative branch.

The actual notification of the suspected criminal offence against a child is recorded in the police register and the child welfare notification in the client register of social welfare services.

Recording of detected injuries outside healthcare

When injuries are detected on a child, a notification must be submitted to the police and to child welfare. The police will request the examinations related to the pre-trial investigation from healthcare and, if necessary, will give instructions to the notifier. As a rule, taking photos of the child’s injuries or recording the child’s speech are investigative tasks carried out by the police and a representative from healthcare.

For example, if a child welfare social worker is the first person to observe the child’s injury in connection with a home visit, they can take a photograph of the injury if it is visible and the photograph does not require undressing the child, for example. The injury must not be photographed by force.

In social welfare, the observations are documented as accurately as possible in the child’s client records, and the photograph is sent to the police as an attachment to the notification.