Acknowledgement of child abuse by teachers of pre-school, primary and secondary education: Spanish sample

Mar Badia, Xenia Garcia, Pilar Escotorín and Marc Brundelius

Summary:  The European project WIDE (Witnessing Domestic Violence and Audit Education in school system ERASMUS + Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices, Strategic Partnerships 2016-1-IT02-KA201-024390) focused on the design of a training model that provides tools and intervention protocols to teachers and school agents in order to detect and intervene properly in the event that students witness intra-family violence against women. The pertinence of the subject was confirmed by 216 teachers, psychologists, social workers and the legal field, from different areas and centres of Catalonia, who voluntarily participated in a 25-hour training process during 2017–2018. The European Project FEEL (Call 2018, KA202 Strategic Partnership for Vocational Education and Training) complements these objectives, offering knowledge on the detection and management of cases of gender violence to vocational and higher education staff. In order to properly contextualise the study, it was necessary to understand the role of education authorities and professionals. A contrasting study highlights that pre-school teachers are the only ones that have received training to a sufficient degree to be considered relevant. In the pre- -school cycle, the type of abuse most often detected is negligence, followed by a tie between emotional abuse and children witnessing violence; violence among equals is the third most detected type of abuse. Importantly, a high proportion of teachers have never used the necessary documents to carry out this task, which is concerning. The results highlight the importance of offering training to teachers so that they can anticipate possible cases of violence and reduce the potential risks that occur in this group of children.