“It’s Silent”: Race, racism and safeguarding children
Published on 1 March, 2025.
This thematic review examines the impact of race, ethnicity and culture on multi‑agency practice where children have suffered serious harm or died. It includes findings from 40 rapid reviews and 14 LCSPRs involving children from Black, Asian and Mixed Heritage backgrounds. The Panel’s own discussions and conversations with safeguarding practitioners and leaders, together with evidence from other reviews, framed and guided the key questions posed within this review, namely: • what are the characteristics of the lives and needs of children and their families who are the focus of reviews? • what is the learning about how agencies respond to their needs? • have reviews focused on and identified these issues and wider learning, and if so, how? This report highlights that some progress has been made in understanding how race, ethnicity and culture can inform practice responses to children and families. However, our analysis reveals too few examples of these issues being considered in any depth or specificity. This indicates that there is a need to surface and challenge why there is such systemic silence and reticence in addressing and confronting these issues. It is clear too that more work is urgently needed so that safeguarding leaders and practitioners consistently consider, understand and take account of children’s identity and heritage.