The importance of safe guarding In light of recent allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct which have been levelled against high profile charity and not-for-profit organisations over the last year, never has it been so important for organisations, of all sizes, to review their safeguarding policies and procedures.
What can charities, businesses and organisations do to protect their clients and themselves? Any organisation working with children, young people or adults at-risk should have a safeguarding policy and procedure in place and should review this regularly. Training and awareness amongst staff and volunteers can be the key to successful safeguarding. Not only will this help by clearly outlining what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour but it can also act as an early warning signal where staff see and report incidents before they arise. There should be a high degree of awareness among staff and volunteers of safeguarding issues and their own roles within the organisation for protecting people from harm. The Charity Commission advises that safeguarding should be a priority for all charities, not just those working with groups traditionally considered at risk. There are a wealth of sources to help charities and organisations identify and create a safeguarding policy. Successful policies should be clear, to- the-point and be a set of guidelines which everyone in your organisation can adhere to, this will give your policy integrity and most importantly could help in ensuring the safety of anyone who could be the subject of abuse. The Anne Craft Trust have some great advice on their website for drawing up a safeguarding policy: Empowerment People are supported and encouraged to make their own decisions and informs consent. Prevention It is better to take action before harm occurs. Proportionality The least intrusive response appropriate to the risk presented.
The Charity Commission recently announced the findings of it’s Task Force. The Task Force was set up in February 2018 “to explore the nature of incidents reported and the type of charity making the report, in order to inform our understanding of risks facing charities, and in turn our approach to individual case work and the provision of guidance to charities.” The findings of the report were that “Reports of serious safeguarding incidents were not always made sufficiently quickly; our guidance requires charities to report a serious incident promptly.” With the Task Force citing that they “have serious concerns about continued underreporting of serious incidents in charities.” In response, the British Government stated that it intended to support a global register of sex predators with the aim of protecting vulnerable people both in the UK and overseas. Not only is this international crisis devastating for victims, both those who are known and those who go unreported but is having an impact on charities themselves. Shirley Greer, Charity Insurance Specialist at Scrutton Bland reflects on what charities and not-for-profit organisations should be considering in order to protect themselves and their clients. Safeguarding refers to the measures and processes in place which protect the health, well-being and human rights of individuals. Safeguarding is a term which is often used in regard to children, young people and vulnerable adults who need protecting against harm and or abuse. Why is it so important to have a robust safeguarding policy? Anyone who has a position of responsibility or works with children or vulnerable adults has a duty of care to protect them. For organisations who rely on volunteers or operate with temporary or transient staff - such as charities who run overseas operations - ensuring that safeguarding procedures are being followed, can be challenging. It is an unfortunate statistic that the number of people suffering from mental health issues often associated with poverty or homelessness is rising, and therefore so are the numbers of people who can be considered vulnerable. Whilst the Charity Commission has already reported a significant increase in the number of safeguarding incidents post the Oxfam scandal, the Commission still believes that there are a large number of safeguarding incidents which are going unreported. The rise in movements such as ‘Me Too’ and other victim empowerment and support groups has inevitably led to an increase in the number of reports of abuse, many of them historical. Whilst support for victims speaking out is something which can only be positive for society, for organisations who may have unknowingly employed or worked with the abusers, the cost of legal action and damages can be catastrophic. The Government’s report is all around ‘safeguarding’, what is safeguarding?
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