Violet’s Web Child Safeguarding Audit is an assessment tool with key questions to ask child service providers to ensure their child protection policies are effective and implemented. The Web is a safety net for children because all child service providers in the community are assessed. If the School doesn’t effectively teach Protective Behaviours Education, the Surf Club will. Child protection is a community responsibility and Violet’s Web enables the community to take back control of child protection. 

Click on Violet’s Web for the Assessment Tool

An integral part of Violet’s Web is to ensure that all service providers of children with disability or neurodivergence are familiar with grooming behaviours. Groomers repeatedly use the same strategies as each other. Once staff are familiar with these techniques, it is easier to spot a predator. Groomers infiltrate child service providers as a rule not an exception, with the sole intention of abusing children from within. Service providers have become dangerous predatory playgrounds for vulnerable children. Service providers should adopt a Zero Tolerance Policy to voyeurism of children, if this behaviour is observed.

Click on Grooming for more information. 

Mandatory Protective Behaviours Education in all primary and middle schools (from kindergarten), including Special Education Schools. Most children are not taught protective behaviours at home, so schools should provide protective behaviours education consistently across the curriculum everyday, to protect children from sexual abuse and online sexploitation. Innovative methods are required to teach protective behaviours to children with disability or neurodovergence in mainstream and special education schools. 

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) does not make it a mandatory requirement for Disability Support Workers who work with Plan and Self Managed Child NDIS Participants to have Working with Children Cards and Police Clearances. Working with children cards and police clearances are only the first line of defence to protect children, despite most perpetrators being able to obtain these due to the minimal number of perpetrators who are charged and convicted.

Safety cameras in Special Education School Classrooms (including corridors, offices), Residential Facilities, Group Homes and Respite Centres. Cameras are the most effective preventative tool for non-verbal and minimally verbal children, due to the inability to report mistreatment. These children often rely on 1 on 1 personal care leaving them vulnerable to abuse. In Australia, cameras are in stores, streets and cars and people’s privacy concerns do not take priority over children’s safety.

Perpetrators gain employment in child service providers for the sole purpose of abusing children and we make it easy for them by not having cameras in public access areas, audio in bathrooms or effective child safeguarding policies in place. Identifying signs and symptoms of sexual abuse in non-verbal and minimally verbal children is almost impossible,  despite being the most victimised population. Staff are not trained to identify signs and symptoms in children with disability or neurodivergence, or to recognise grooming behaviours . In fact, we are doing absolutely nothing at all to protect these children within child service providers. 

The states of Alabama, Texas, West Virginia, Louisiana, Nevada, Florida, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York and Georgia in the United States have legislated for cameras in Special Education classrooms. In 2023, the West Virginia State Senate passed legislation to allow Audio equipment into restrooms (bathrooms) in Special Education Schools. 

In Special Education Schools, Residential Facilities, Group Homes and Respite Centres, a 2 Adult to 1 Child Policy for toileting, bathing and dressing is an effective preventative tool. Most sexual abuse of children with disability or neurodivergence occurs in bathrooms, toilets and bedrooms. It also occurs in vehicles during transportation. Many Disability Support Workers victimise their clients, due to children’s dependence on 1 on 1 care and having no witnesses. If we can ensure child service providers have this policy in place, this will decrease a large proportion of abuse within these spaces. This policy should also be applied to Child Care Centres and Kindergartens.

Each non-verbal or minimally verbal NDIS participant under 18 years old should be able to purchase a maximum of 2 safety cameras for the home (bedroom, bathroom or living area). Children’s reliance on multiple carers means that several perpetrators can gain access to them. 

A significant number of non-verbal or minimally verbal children are from single parent families who cannot work due to their child’s high care needs. Families with a low socio-economic income have an inability to purchase cameras. These children often do not attend school full time, if at all, so they spend a lot of time in the home with multiple disability support workers. One of the most prolific child sexual abusers in the world was a babysitter and child care centre worker who chose victims based on the absence of ‘nanny cams’ in the homes and child care centres he worked at(1).