The Children’s Society have published a guide to the dark web describing what it is, how young people might use it and what to do if you have safety concerns. https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/information/professionals/resources/what-is-the-dark-web

Who Cares? Scotland Helpline is open to all Care Experienced people across Scotland, of any age – whether currently in care or having left care. The helpline (0330 107 7540) is open Monday to Friday from 12-4pm, and people can also email Who Care Scotland? on help@whocaresscotland.org. We are led by the needs of our callers and can provide the following: • Connection with Who Cares? Scotland • Support and signposting around finances, benefits, housing, health, employment, education, and rights • Lifelong advocacy • A listening ear • Referral route into local advocacy if the caller is a young person. Sian Wild is the local advocacy and participation worker for Who Cares? Scotland a national organisation which provides advocacy and participation activities to looked after children and care experienced young people.

As the festive season approaches, Child Protection Committees Scotland and Shetland Public Protection Committee encourages everyone to keep eyes and ears open for children who may be experiencing harm over the holidays. We’ve all got a part to play to protect children and young people, even at Christmas.

This year, many of us will be relying on tech over the festive period for entertainment and, most importantly, to keep in touch with friends and family. Here are a few resources that you can share with parents, carers and children and young people to help them have a safer online experience over the winter break.

What About the Men? Monday 7th December 1.30 – 3.00 p.m. Chaired by COSLA Vice President, Cllr Graham Houston

The BBC reports that TikTok is expanding its parental control feature Family Pairing making it easier for parents to safeguard their children on its video-sharing platform. New features include the ability to change the youngster's settings remotely to block them from carrying out searches, and to prevent strangers from seeing their posts. Children can still override these limitations but not without their parents being told. Read the news story: TikTok adds tougher parental controls

Volunteers with BEE (Bold, Equal & Empowered), Shetland Rape Crisis’ young activists’ group, are inviting folk to join them in a socially-distanced walk and social media takeover under the hashtag #WisToo on Saturday 5th December at Clickimin Loch between 10am-1pm, as part of the global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. The 16 Days are an international campaign that runs from 25 Nov, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to 10 Dec, Human Rights Day. It also includes International Men’s Day (19 Nov), Trans Day of Remembrance, and World Children’s Day (both 20 Nov). The group, supported by Shetland Rape Crisis, has organised an outdoor exhibition highlighting facts relating to the 16 days and gender-based violence, and this exhibition will be on display at the walk route from this week until 10th December. The exhibition boards were designed and printed by sponsors Lou Jackson Design and Artmachine.

Net Aware, produced by the NSPCC and O2, has released content to help parents and carers who may be worried about their child sharing videos and images online.

Childline has published a webpage with information for children and young people about child trafficking and exploitation. The page discusses what child trafficking and exploitation is, where children and young people can get support and what to do if they are worried about someone else.

From next week, all forms of physical punishment of children will be against the law in Scotland, including hitting, smacking, spanking and slapping. Under current laws, parents may be prosecuted with assault if they physically punish or discipline their child, but may be able to use the defence of ‘reasonable chastisement’, depending on the circumstances.

Police Scotland is committed to keeping people safe and protecting all our communities. We understand that daily life adhering to coronavirus (COVID-19 guidelines continues to be challenging for everyone. Although Scottish Government guidance has provided flexibility for the individual needs of disabled people, we recognise this has not prevented some people becoming fearful of going out into their communities. We are aware some disabled people have reported being unfairly challenged and, on occasion, abused about issues linked to social distancing and face coverings. Our partners have shared concerns that some disabled people can find physical distancing difficult - this could be linked to sight loss, autism, a physical disability or other issues. People have reported being shouted at, made to feel uncomfortable or fearful. We have also received reports of people who are exempt from wearing face coverings being inappropriately challenged in shops or on public transport. This includes people who have invisible or hidden disabilities, like asthma or autism.

New resource for young people with information and support about different forms of gender-based violence, healthy relationships and consent.

As pandemic restrictions continue to affect all children and families across the country, a new Scotland-wide multi-agency digital child protection campaign launches on Thursday 17 September at 1000. This digital campaign has been developed by Child Protection Committees Scotland in conjunction with Barnardo’s Scotland, NSPPC Scotland and Police Scotland. As Scotland’s children settle back into the school routine and slowly begin to return to clubs and out-of-school activities, the month-long campaign aims to raise awareness that while lockdown and the pandemic has been hard going for many families and children, it’s been a lot more challenging for some families than others. Families who were struggling to cope before the pandemic may have been pushed to crisis point during lockdown, and even the most settled families will have faced new challenges during this time.

Shetland Youth & Employability Services have alerted the Shetland Public Protection Committee to distressing images of suicide shared through TIKTOK. Please alert colleagues and please be aware that people may be very distressed by this. Users report that the distressing footage is being placed inside of other, seemingly unrelated videos, so that it may appear without warning in users’ feeds. This may particularly impact on young people and parents may want to support their children to suspend their use of TIKTOK over the coming days.

Police Scotland and partners are calling on local communities to come together and help put an end to gender-based violence in Shetland. Shetland Rape Crisis’ Facebook page recently featured a post from Rhea, detailing accounts of sexual assaults and abuse reported to her via anonymous app by other young people in Shetland. The stories came from young people of all genders across the Isles, but the vast majority of stories received detailed incidents against young women and girls. Now Police Scotland, working with its partners Shetland Rape Crisis and Shetland Women’s Aid, is asking people to be vigilant, to report offenders and to help prevent gender-based violence.

Police Scotland is committed to keeping people safe and protecting all our communities. We understand that daily life adhering to coronavirus (COVID-19) guidelines continues to be challenging for everyone. Although Scottish Government guidance has provided flexibility for the individual needs of disabled people, we recognise this has not prevented some people becoming fearful of going out into their communities. We are aware some disabled people have reported being unfairly challenged and, on occasion, abused about issues linked to social distancing and face coverings.

Reports of online scares or challenges encouraging harmful or suicidal behaviours can be alarming and confusing. Follow the link to find out how you can speak to your child about scares and challenges, and how to respond if they have seen one.

Scams centred on exploiting coronavirus have become prevalent in recent months. Everything from Government grants, furlough payments, requests for refund of overpayments to mortgage holidays are being targeted by scammers utilising more sophisticated methods.

Sharing, or threatening to share, intimate images without consent is a crime that can come with a five year prison sentence.

Please find below the latest scam bulletin. Click to read on.

New website launched

For up to date information on scams visit SIC Trading Standards facebook page.

Issued from Police Scotland - The ability to detect a fictitious company and business transaction in a period of high demand becomes more challenging, particularly where businesses are operating with a skeleton or remote workforce. Many businesses are establishing new supply chains for products, particularly personal protective equipment (PPE) and buying from companies they have not dealt with before. This provides fraudsters an opportunity to exploit the situation: high demand for and the urgency with which companies want to procure goods. Those conducting this type of fraud will often target individuals/companies, knowing that they are facing these challenges.

Please read on to see some of the latest scams.

Two new Parent Info articles explore how parents and carers can support their child's mental health, and highlight things they can do to manage the wellbeing challenges of family life under lockdown.

Read on for the latest scams

Its Everyone’s job to keep children , young people and adults safe from harm and abuse. Here is a  link to a basic protection training  course that is recommended for everyone, but especially for colleagues working in the voluntary sector or with sports and activity groups. The course  will help you to recognise abuse, know what to do and where to get help and advice if you need it. You can print out a certificate for doing the course.

Which? is launching a free scam alert service to warn consumers about the latest fraud attempts and give advice about how they can protect themselves, as criminals exploit the coronavirus outbreak to unleash a new range of scams. With more than £1.2 billion lost to scammers in 2019, fraud has become one of the most prevalent crimes in the UK, which often results in devastating consequences for victims. In recent weeks, scammers have rushed to exploit the widespread fear and confusion caused by the pandemic.

Launched today is a new resource for Health & Social Care staff to support women at risk of gender based violence. The stay at home messaging which is a large part of our fight against COVID 19 will pose a challenge in particular for women at risk of gender based violence (GBV) including domestic abuse. 1 in 4 women may experience domestic abuse & this may increase during COVID pandemic.

The Internet Watch Foundation warns that, with schools being forced to shut, there is an increased risk of children being groomed and coerced online.

Over the coming weeks, children will be spending more time online to play, create, learn and connect. So it’s important to know how to keep them safe. That’s why Net Aware is here, to provide you with simple, practical advice.

Shetland Domestic Abuse Partnership, Shetland Rape Crisis and Shetland Women’s Aid would like to alert members of the community to the increased risk of domestic abuse and sexual violence during the current coronavirus pandemic.

Trading Standards are aware of a variety of scams associated with the coronavirus pandemic – it is important that everyone continues to remain vigilant and alert for any and all attempts by criminals to use the current circumstances as an opportunity to make money out of people’s difficulties and concerns. Locally, they are aware of an ongoing scam within Shetland which includes the promotion of ‘medical machines’ with claims that these can detect and/or cure various illnesses including coronavirus. “We are working on this in conjunction with other enforcement partners,” says David Marsh, Shetland Islands Council’s Trading Standards Team Leader, “and have received valuable assistance from people across the wider Shetland community.”

Our office is closed due to COVID-19 but can still be contacted and staff are continuing to provide support and advice:-

Please feel free to download these posters and circulate.

With the closure of schools, nurseries and other services during the current coronavirus pandemic, Child Protection Committees Scotland is urging everyone to keep their eyes and ears open for children and vulnerable adults who may be at risk during this time.

As more businesses encourage their staff to start working from home the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has launched new guidance to help prepare your workforce. Home working brings its own cybersecurity challenges that organisations must manage including possibly setting up new accounts, using new video teleconferencing facilities and document sharing.

A new Disability Hate Crime campaign has been launched this week to encourage both victims and bystanders to report hate crime to the police. One in five people in Scotland are registered as having a disability, yet this category of hate crime accounts for only four per cent of reports to Police Scotland, and there is strong evidence to suggest this type of offence is significantly under reported. This campaign has been designed to encourage people to come forward, to speak up and refuse to tolerate this kind of behaviour.

Shetland Public Protection Committee is proud to be involved in the second national Adult Protection Day on Thursday 20th February 2020. Thirteen years after the implementation of the Adult Support and Protection Act in Scotland, local partners say great progress has been made in Shetland. Tam Baillie is Convener of Shetland Public Protection Committee said: “Adult harm can take many forms, from physical, psychological and sexual abuse to financial exploitation and neglect, affecting those who can’t look after or stand up for themselves through personal circumstances, disability, age, illness or infirmity.

The Upstream Project was set up to enable adults and communities in Scotland prevent child sexual abuse. We believe that preventing child sexual abuse is all our responsibility and this depends on changing the thinking and behaviour of adults. It aims to be the "one stop" resource for anyone who wants to know more about the prevention of child sexual abuse and how they can contribute and help. The Upstream web resource was launched the 4th December 2019 at Norton Park Conference Centre in Edinburgh and was launched by Maree Todd, MSP, Minister for Children & Young People. For contact details and site read on.

Christmas is such a wonderful time of year, excitable children and time to relax with family and friends. And of course, there are new toys to play with. With a huge increase in sales of devices (around 13 million people receive smartphones for Christmas each year) it is important to ensure that you and your children are safe when playing with new kit. To help, we've set out a few top tips to help keep your household safe online over the holidays

A series of events and exhibitions are planned between 25th November (International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women) and 10th December (International Human Rights Day) as part of a global campaign aimed at highlighting the link between gender based violence and human rights. The Shetland Domestic Abuse Partnership (SDAP) brings together organisations supporting those who are at risk of, or who are experiencing, domestic or sexual violence and abuse. These include Shetland Women’s Aid and Shetland Rape Crisis, along with Shetland Islands Council, NHS Shetland, Police Scotland and Hjaltland Housing Association. This year, the 16 Days will be marked with a series of public talks, exhibitions and training events. The 16 Days also includes significant dates such as International Human Rights Defenders Day (29th November) and World Aids Day (1st December.) You can find more information here https://www.safershetland.com/training-and-events

Shetland Islands Council is one of 7 local authorities in Scotland taking part in piloting 'Equally Safe at Work', an employer accreditation programme which aims to support employers to improve their employment practice to advance gender equality at work, and prevent violence against women.

The National Confidential Forum is hearing from people all over Scotland and beyond, who are sharing their Scottish institutional childcare experiences. Being heard and having experiences acknowledged has been a powerful experience for individuals. The Forum have been listening to various experiences relating to care, some have been positive with individuals stating various good elements. However we have also heard about physical and sexual abuse in care, separation from siblings, children being used as domestic servants, not receiving information about puberty and adolescence and food being used as punishment. We have explored themes such as powerlessness and the longterm impact of care experiences on people’s life outcomes. We ensure that learning from those who have experienced care in the past contributes to making a difference to children in care in Scotland in the future.

Everyone in Shetland is being encouraged to keep their eyes open for children at risk during the school holidays. As Shetland schools prepare to ring the bell for the end of term on Friday 5th July, a national child protection organisation is urging everyone to be extra observant to help protect potentially vulnerable children while schools are out for summer break.

Do you work with children and young people under 5 to the age of 18? Do you work with older adults or those with a disability or mental health problem? If you are providing services to children, young people or more vulnerable adults it’s good practice to have up-to-date policies and procedures that your group, staff and volunteers can follow. This helps to protect adults who could be at risk of harm, children and young people while they are accessing your services. To keep up to date, visit https://www.safershetland.com/ which is regularly updated with a range of information on child and adult protection procedures.

Shetland Women's Aid are hosting a seminar with Dr Marsha Scott, CEO of Scottish Women's Aid on 4 June 2019 in the Auditorium at Shetland Museum and Archives. the focus of the seminar is coercive control, the new Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 and how this will impact on local responses to Women, Children and Young People affected by domestic abuse.

On 1st April a new domestic abuse law came into force in Scotland. This law creates a new offence covering psychological harm, as well as physical harm.

Shetland Protection Committee is supporting the #Stop it Now Child Sexual Abuse Campaign today. Last year Police Scotland delivered a CSE Child Sexual Abuse Campaign, entitled #notmyfriend. The campaign was deemed a huge success with a sevenfold increase in the number of individuals being directed to the Stop It Now! website page. (607 sessions three months prior to campaign rising to 4385 sessions three months after campaign launch). Social media directed traffic also seen a staggering increase from 8 clicks within a three months period before the campaign, rising to 2946 in the three months period after the launch date. Following the campaign launch the stopitnow/Scotland URL generated 76.5 per cent of all social media traffic to the Stop It Now! website. Building on from this success, on Monday 18th March 2019, Police Scotland will launch a new Online Child Sexual Abuse campaign, focusing on “grooming”. The campaign will be entitled “#StopitNow” and will run for four weeks. Unlike previous campaigns, this campaign will solely target perpetrators of online child grooming.