Organised and Multiple Abuse (complex abuse) - Child

Complex (organised or multiple) abuse may be defined as abuse involving one or more abusers and a number of related or non-related abused children. The adults involved may be acting in concert to abuse children, acting in isolation or may be using an institutional framework or position of authority to recruit children for abuse.

Such abuse can occur both as part of a network of abuse across a family or community and within institutions such as residential settings, boarding schools, day care and in other provisions such as youth services, sports clubs, faith groups and voluntary groups.  There will also be cases of children being abused via the use of electronic devices, such as mobile phones, computers, games consoles etc. which all access the internet.

Organised and multiple abuse is profoundly traumatic for children who are involved.  Each investigation of complex and organised abuse will be different, according to the characteristics of each situation and the scale of complexity of the investigation. But all will require thorough planning, collaborative inter-agency working and attention to the needs of the child victims involved.

Information on Darlington's procedure can be found in the guidance below:

Organised and Multiple Abuse Procedure and Practice Guidance [PDF Document]