Key to terms used in this document

Child maltreatment includes physical, emotional and sexual abuse, neglect, and fabricated or induced illness. The definitions of child maltreatment in ‘Working together to safeguard children’ (2006) - Available from: the DCSF Safeguarding website (Accessed 6 July 2009) - are used in this guidance.

• The following terms are used to describe children of different ages:

  • infant (under 1 year)
  • child (under 13 years)
  • young person (13–17 years).