What assessment it has made of the effectiveness of child protection awareness programmes that encourage children to disclose abuse to trus…

Protecting children from harm is a key priority for the Scottish Government. The National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland describes the responsibilities and expectations for all involved in protecting children and clearly outlines how people should respond when risk of harm, or harm, has occurred to a child.While the Scottish Government has not undertaken a specific assessment of child protection awareness programmes in rural communities, we recognise the importance of ensuring that children have access to information about how their concerns can be raised and acted upon.Disclosure of abuse in childhood is complex, as perpetrators often take advantage of children's vulnerabilities and may use power, trust or influence to prevent concerns being raised. This can be particularly challenging where concerns relate to an individual in a position of authority or influence within a community. Disclosure of abuse can also be indirect and non-verbal, for example a change in behaviour.Children should therefore have a range of safe and accessible routes through which concerns can be disclosed or identified and acted upon. These include trusted adults in education, health, social work and community settings, Police Scotland, and independent services such as Childline. More broadly, safeguarding and child protection learning is supported through Scotland's curriculum, where Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) education helps children and young people understand healthy relationships, consent, personal safety and where to seek help if they have any concerns.To support implementation of the National Guidance for Child Protection, the Scottish Government launched an online resource in February 2025 that provides guides to child protection processes for children, young people and families who may become involved in the child protection process either directly as a child or parent/carer or as a member of the wider family, and for those who may be supporting a child. Children, young people and families were engaged as part of the process in developing this resource. Although the guides can be accessed directly by children, young people and families, we would expect practitioners to support them when accessing the guides.The National Guidance for Child Protection already makes clear the expectation that all concerns that a child has been abused or is at risk of abuse must be reported to the police or social work. The guidance also provides that organisations that work with children and young people should have policies in place that allow individuals to escalate a child protection concern outside of their management structure. However, we are committed to going further by legislating to ensure reporting of harm is mandatory for adults with responsibility for safeguarding children.The Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation National Strategic Group established a Task and Finish Group to develop options for a Scottish mandatory reporting model. The group is being led by Dr Ariane Critchley from the University of Stirling and has been working together since the start of this year to explore how mandatory reporting could be implemented effectively in Scotland. Part of this work is considering how and to whom children disclose abuse.The group will continue to engage with international experts and stakeholders as it develops its recommendations, which will be presented to the Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation National Strategic Group in early 2027.