Safeguarding Children Initiative

Aotearoa New Zealand has one of the highest rates of child abuse and neglect in a developed country. On average, a child in New Zealand dies from abuse and neglect every five weeks and a child is hospitalised every two days. A majority of the abuse children experience goes unrecognised and unreported. This needs to change!

In response to these unacceptably high rates of child abuse and neglect, three nurses and a detective specialising in child abuse established Safeguarding Children in 2011 to provide child protection training and guidance with the vision:

The children and young people of Aotearoa New Zealand are safe from abuse and neglect

Safeguarding Children encourages all New Zealanders to strive towards this goal and it starts with education.

Did you know there is no compulsory safeguarding and child protection training for those who work with children in New Zealand. This oversight potentially places children at risk of harm or to remain in harmful situations. Children can be abused at home and in the places they go. Are the places YOUR children are going to doing all they can to prevent child abuse?

Consider all the individuals and organisations who are involved with YOUR children. We desperately need your support, financially and by word of mouth. With education, imagine the potential to achieve Safeguarding Children’s vision!!

To date, Safeguarding Children’s training has been accessed by thousands of New Zealanders. Feedback from learners has been positive and this training has enabled them to better support children in their care when abuse or neglect has been recognised. Preventative measures individuals and organisations can implement are also taught with the intention of children not experiencing abuse in the first place.

A registered charity, Safeguarding Children does not receive any government funding for its work. We rely on income generated from our training, grants and private donations to continue operating. Your contribution will be used to enable us to strive towards making Aotearoa New Zealand a safe and happy place for our children to grow and reach their full potential.