make reporting child abuse the law

Almost 12,000 people - including four MPs, two of whom are shadow ministers - have now signed this petition for Daniel's Law; to make it the law for those working in regulated activities (e.g. schools) to report suspicions of / known child abuse.

The objective is to support and require people to come to the aid of children in distress by reporting to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) or to the police; a legal obligation will remove any doubt or hesitation, fear of recrimination or reprisal.

Daniel Pelka's serious case review will report mid-September and we hope it will be bold enough to make some 'radical proposals for improvement' (Geoffrey Robinson, MP for Coventry North West). Whatever the recommendations of the report, government and support agencies agree that something is not working. The five charities represented by Mandate Now are convinced that the introduction of mandatory reporting in regulated activities will spearhead the overhaul we so badly need in our approach to child protection.

Many other countries have such laws - Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and the USA to name but a few. Why not the UK?

Please read and, if you agree, sign via the link below.

www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/change-the-law-to-better-protect-vulnerable-children-like-daniel-pelka

You can also follow campaign progress via
Twitter @paulabarrow
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