Childline launches physical abuse campaign

A campaign is being launched to encourage young victims of physical abuse in Wales to speak out.

The national children’s charity Childline says it wants to help children recognise the signs of abuse, understand that it's not their fault and seek help sooner.

Almost 2,000 children in Wales spoke to Childline about physical abuse in the year 2011 to 2012.

The majority of young people contacting the charity about physical abuse were aged between 12 and 15.

But almost a quarter were under the age of 11 - and some were as young as 5 years old.

The perpetrator was equally as likely to be the child's mother (32 per cent) as it was the father (31 per cent) in the cases reported. A further one in 10 reported that both parents had physically abused them.

Childline says the new figures on physical abuse show a link to self-harm and truancy.

Figures from the charity's self-selecting survey of 1,730 children and young people found that over 1,300 had suffered some level of abuse. Half of those who had suffered abuse said it had caused them to self-harm, while over a quarter confessed to skipping school as a result of being abused.

Childline has now launched a video - starring child actor Sammy Williams from Wild Bill, with Neil Maskell from Football Factory as his father - to help young people recognise the signs of abuse and seek help.