This national review explores serious incidents where men have harmed their babies. It sets out recommendations and findings for national government and local safeguarding partners to better protect children under 1 year old from non-accidental injury.
It is a qualitative study of 23 cases from 19 local areas regarding children who died or experienced serious harm, and their father or male carer was the known or suspected perpetrator. It includes interviews with those men about their backgrounds and reflections on why the abuse happened, alongside a psychologist’s report and a fieldwork report. A literature review on the Non-accidental injury of infants by fathers, father-figures and other informal male caregivers is also available from The Fatherhood Institute.
The evidence gathered during the course of this review highlights an urgent need to improve how the system sees, responds to and intervenes with men who may represent a risk to the babies they are caring for. It stresses the imperative of ensuring the role that these men play in a child’s life, their history of parenting and their own experiences as children are not overlooked by services with responsibilities for safeguarding children and for supporting parents.