Types of abuse in safeguarding

The four categories of child abuse

Keeping children safe in education 2026 (KCSIE) defines four categories of child abuse and neglect in Part one, paragraphs 26 to 29: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. The glossary of Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026 defines the same four categories in closely matching words, so schools, youth clubs and children's social care in England work from the same four categories.

Both documents start from the same definition of abuse itself. KCSIE paragraph 25 calls it "a form of maltreatment of a child" and says "Somebody may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting harm or by failing to act to prevent harm." Harm, it adds, "can include ill treatment that is not physical as well as the impact of witnessing ill treatment of others", and children "may be abused by an adult or adults or by another child or children."

• Physical abuse is "a form of abuse which may involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning or scalding, drowning, suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a child". KCSIE adds that physical harm may also be caused when a parent or carer fabricates the symptoms of, or deliberately induces, illness in a child.
• Emotional abuse is "the persistent emotional maltreatment of a child such as to cause severe and adverse effects on the child's emotional development". KCSIE notes that "Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of maltreatment of a child, although it may occur alone."
• Sexual abuse "involves forcing, causing or inciting a child to take part in sexual activities, not necessarily involving violence, whether or not the child is aware of what is happening." It includes non-contact activities and grooming, can happen online, and KCSIE says it is not committed only by adult men: women and other children can too.
• Neglect is "the persistent failure to meet a child's basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to result in the serious impairment of the child's health or development." It may involve a parent or carer failing to provide adequate food, clothing and shelter or to ensure access to appropriate medical care.

The specific safeguarding issues KCSIE names

The four categories are not the whole list. KCSIE paragraph 20 says abuse, neglect, exploitation and safeguarding issues "are rarely standalone events and cannot be covered by one definition or one label alone." Paragraph 30 then lists behaviours and indicators that "can be signs that children are at risk":

• drug taking and/or alcohol misuse
• unexplainable and/or persistent absences from education
• serious violence, criminal exploitation (including that linked to county lines), radicalisation, and
• consensual and non-consensual making or sharing of nudes or semi-nudes.

Part one then describes further issues, including:

• Child criminal and child sexual exploitation. KCSIE paragraph 38 says both "are forms of abuse that occur where an individual or group takes advantage of an imbalance in power" to coerce, manipulate or deceive a child, and paragraph 40 says "It is not possible for a child to consent to be exploited, abused or trafficked".
• Domestic abuse. KCSIE paragraph 45 says domestic abuse "may be a single incident or a pattern of incidents" and that children can be victims of it, including where they see, hear or experience its effects at home or suffer it in their own relationships.
• Child-on-child abuse. KCSIE paragraph 31 says all staff should be aware that children can abuse other children, inside and outside school and online.
• Online harm. KCSIE paragraph 22 says "technology is a significant component in many safeguarding and wellbeing issues" and that children are at risk of abuse online as well as face to face.

KCSIE paragraph 56 says school and college leaders and staff who work directly with children should read Annex A, which covers further issues including forced marriage and female genital mutilation.

For the local authority, Working Together 2026 paragraph 242 sets the line at which child protection enquiries begin: "Suffering or being likely to suffer significant harm is the threshold for child protection enquiries", and it can take forms including sexual, physical or emotional abuse, neglect, domestic abuse, exploitation, trafficking, online abuse and the influences of extremism.

The ten types of abuse and neglect of adults

For adults in England, paragraph 14.17 of the Care and support statutory guidance, whose chapter 14 gives guidance on sections 42 to 46 of the Care Act 2014, lists ten types of abuse and neglect. Paragraph 14.16 says the section "is not intended to be an exhaustive list but an illustrative guide as to the sort of behaviour which could give rise to a safeguarding concern", and paragraph 14.17 that local authorities "should not limit their view of what constitutes abuse or neglect". With some of the guidance's examples:

1. Physical abuse, including assault, hitting, slapping, pushing, misuse of medication, restraint and inappropriate physical sanctions.
2. Domestic violence, for which paragraph 14.20 gives the cross-government definition: "any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partners or family members regardless of gender or sexuality".
3. Sexual abuse, including rape, indecent exposure, sexual harassment, inappropriate looking or touching, sexual assault and "sexual acts to which the adult has not consented or was pressured into consenting".
4. Psychological abuse, including emotional abuse, threats of harm or abandonment, humiliation, intimidation, coercion, verbal abuse, cyber bullying and isolation.
5. Financial or material abuse, including theft, fraud, internet scamming, coercion in relation to an adult's financial affairs "including in connection with wills, property, inheritance or financial transactions", and the misuse or misappropriation of property, possessions or benefits.
6. Modern slavery, encompassing slavery, human trafficking, forced labour and domestic servitude.
7. Discriminatory abuse, including harassment and slurs because of race, gender and gender identity, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion.
8. Organisational abuse, "including neglect and poor care practice within an institution or specific care setting such as a hospital or care home" or in care provided in someone's own home.
9. Neglect and acts of omission, including ignoring medical, emotional or physical care needs, failure to provide access to appropriate health, care and support or educational services, and "the withholding of the necessities of life, such as medication, adequate nutrition and heating".
10. Self-neglect, which "covers a wide range of behaviour neglecting to care for one's personal hygiene, health or surroundings and includes behaviour such as hoarding." The guidance notes that self-neglect "may not prompt a section 42 enquiry" and that an assessment should be made case by case.

Section 1 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 gives domestic abuse a statutory definition: abusive behaviour between two people aged 16 or over who are personally connected, including controlling or coercive behaviour and economic abuse, and says it does not matter "whether the behaviour consists of a single incident or a course of conduct."

The adult safeguarding duties do not apply to every adult. Paragraph 14.2 of the guidance, mirroring section 42 of the Care Act 2014, says they apply to an adult who has needs for care and support (whether or not the local authority is meeting any of them), is experiencing, or at risk of, abuse or neglect, and as a result of those needs is unable to protect themselves. That test is the council's to apply, not the person raising the concern.

Signs are not proof, and do not need to be

What a teacher, a support worker or a volunteer actually meets is usually much less than a definition: a remark, a change in behaviour, an explanation that does not quite fit, money that has gone missing. KCSIE paragraph 19 says all staff "should be aware of the indicators of abuse, neglect, exploitation and modern slavery" and that "Exercising professional curiosity and knowing what to look for is vital for the early identification of abuse and neglect".

Nobody in that position is expected to prove anything. The legal thresholds are framed as suspicion, and they belong to the local authority, not to the person who noticed. Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 requires a local authority to make enquiries where it has "reasonable cause to suspect" that a child in its area "is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm". Section 42 of the Care Act 2014 opens the same way for adults: it applies where a local authority "has reasonable cause to suspect" that an adult with care and support needs is experiencing, or is at risk of, abuse or neglect.

KCSIE paragraph 58 says "If staff have any concerns about a child's welfare, they should act on them immediately." The Care and support statutory guidance, at paragraph 14.37, says it is vital that professionals, other staff and members of the public are vigilant, including "knowing about different types of abuse and neglect and their signs" and "knowing who to tell about suspected abuse or neglect".

Signs also build up. Paragraph 14.18 of the adult guidance says "Professionals and others should look beyond single incidents or individuals to identify patterns of harm" and that "In order to see these patterns it is important that information is recorded and appropriately shared." That is the practical difference between a sign and proof: the sign is yours to record and pass on; deciding what it means is the job of the designated lead, the local authority and, where needed, the police.

What to record, and who to tell

For children, the first person to tell is the designated safeguarding lead. KCSIE paragraph 59 says staff with a concern "should follow their own organisation's child protection policy and speak to the designated safeguarding lead (or a deputy)". If, exceptionally, the lead is not available, paragraph 61 says this "should not delay appropriate action being taken", and staff should consider speaking to a member of the senior leadership team or take advice from local authority children's social care. Where a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer, harm, paragraph 65 says a referral to local authority children's social care, and to the police if appropriate, should be made immediately.

For adults, the route is the organisation's safeguarding lead or manager and, from there, the local authority's adult safeguarding team. Paragraph 14.41 of the Care and support statutory guidance adds: "In any case where you encounter abuse and you are uncertain about your next steps, you should contact the police for advice."

If a child tells you something, do not promise to keep it to yourself. KCSIE paragraph 14 says "Staff should never promise a child that they will not tell anyone about a report of any form of abuse", because that may not be in the child's best interests.

Then write it down. KCSIE paragraph 74 says "All concerns, discussions and decisions made, and the reasons for those decisions, should be recorded in writing", and Annex B says safeguarding records "should be clear, factual, and distinguish between observed concerns, professional opinion, and historic information." For adults, paragraph 14.180 of the Care and support statutory guidance says "all agencies should keep clear and accurate records" whenever a complaint or allegation of abuse is made. In practice a good first record holds:

• what you saw or heard, with the date, time and place
• anything the person said, in their own words rather than your summary of them
• what you did next and whom you told, with the time
• your name, role and signature, kept separate from any opinion you add.

Each later step has its own guide: the safeguarding concern form, a safeguarding chronology for the pattern over time, the MASH referral record for a child and the section 42 enquiry for an adult.

The concern that was first raised in a message

A concern rarely starts in an office. A volunteer at a youth club texts the coordinator on a Saturday night: "One of the Year 9s said something odd about home, can I ring you?" A support worker posts in the team's WhatsApp group that a resident's bank card has gone missing again.

Each of those messages is the first record of a concern within the meaning of the guidance above: it shows what was noticed, in the words of the person who noticed it, and when the organisation first knew. And in most organisations it never reaches the safeguarding record. The concern form says "reported to DSL", while the message stays on two personal phones, in an app the organisation does not run. When a local authority, the police or a review asks what was known and when, an organisation cannot produce it.

ComplyChat gives an organisation channels it controls for these conversations. Everyone added is told the channel is on the record and can object or leave, and staff and volunteers without a work account join with a mobile number verified by SMS. Messages are recorded on the server as they are sent, and on paid plans, once the organisation's Microsoft 365 tenant is connected, the lasting record files there under the organisation's own retention rules, so the first message can be attached to the concern form. It does not replace WhatsApp chats that already exist or bring them into the record.

It is not the answer to the rest of this guide. ComplyChat does not decide whether something is abuse, is not a safeguarding case management system and is not a referral route: a message is not a referral, and a child or adult in danger still needs a phone call to the local authority or 999.

A question for the next leadership, trustees' or governors' meeting: for the last five concerns your organisation recorded, where was each one first mentioned, and could you produce that first message today?

Questions people ask

What are the 10 main types of abuse?

The ten main types of abuse in adult safeguarding in England are physical abuse, domestic violence, sexual abuse, psychological abuse, financial or material abuse, modern slavery, discriminatory abuse, organisational abuse, neglect and acts of omission, and self-neglect, listed at paragraph 14.17 of the Care and support statutory guidance. The guidance says the list is illustrative rather than exhaustive.

What are the 10 types of abuse included in the Care Act 2014?

The Care Act 2014 itself does not list ten types of abuse: section 42(3) says only that "Abuse" includes financial abuse, and then what financial abuse includes. The ten types come from paragraph 14.17 of the Care and support statutory guidance, whose chapter 14 gives guidance on sections 42 to 46 of the Act.

What are the four main types of child abuse?

The four main types of child abuse in England's statutory guidance are physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect, defined in Keeping children safe in education 2026 paragraphs 26 to 29 and in the glossary of Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026.

Where to read the official guidance

The primary sources are Keeping children safe in education 2026 (Part one and Annex A), Working Together to Safeguard Children 2026, chapter 14 of the Care and support statutory guidance, section 42 of the Care Act 2014, section 47 of the Children Act 1989 and section 1 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. Your local safeguarding children partnership and safeguarding adults board publish the local referral routes. Quotations are from those documents as read in September 2026.

This guide is a summary for England, not legal advice, and not a substitute for your organisation's safeguarding policy, its training or your designated lead's judgement about a particular concern.