CHILD PROTECTION POLICY – (2018)

 

PURPOSE

The Indian Government acceded to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1992 and is committed to its full implementation for the benefit of Children. There are other laws pertaining to children in India and to Goa in particular, which provide guidance for the safety, security and protection of children i.e. The Goa Children’s Act 2003, The Juvenile Justice and Care and Protection Act 2000. The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation Act) 1986 and the Immoral (Prevention) Traffic Act, 1956 (Amended Act of 44 of 1986).

This Child Protection Policy is Grace Educational Trust’s statement of intent which demonstrates our commitment to safeguarding children from harm in compliance with the above laws and guidelines. It makes clear to all in the organisation and those who come into contact with us what is required in relation to the protection of children, and that child abuse in any form is unacceptable to Grace Educational Trust.

STATEMENT

Grace Educational Trust takes seriously our responsibility to promote child safe practices and protect children from harm, abuse, neglect and exploitation in any form. Grace Educational Trust undertakes to safeguard children from both intentional and unintentional harm. In addition, we will take positive action to prevent child abusers from becoming involved with Grace Educational Trust in any way and take stringent measures against any trustee, employee, volunteer or visitor who abuses a child.

SCOPE OF THE CHILD PROTECTION POLICY.

This Child Protection Policy applies to everyone working for or associated with Grace Educational Trust. It encompasses the whole of Grace Educational Trust and includes without limitation employees, trustees, volunteers, staff/representatives of partner organisations and visitors who are brought into direct or indirect contact with children.

Whilst this document is the policy for Grace Educational Trust, it will be necessary in future for any of our partners working with children to develop an appropriate Child Protection Policy that is acceptable to Grace Educational Trust and is in compliance with Indian Government law.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

• Respect for dignity, liberty and freedom of the child
• Recognition of the bests interests of the child
• Belief that a child is entitled to express his/her opinion and can take decisions for him/herself
• Respect for the child’s right to privacy and confidentiality
• Zero tolerance of any form of abuse whether direct or indirect
• Belief that child protection is the responsibility of all. 

 

DEFINITIONS UNDER THIS CHILD PROTECTION POLICY

 

DEFINITION OF CHILD

For the purpose of this policy a “child” is defined as all persons from the age of 0-18 years, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

DEFINITION OF CHILD PROTECTION

“Child Protection” is a broad term used to describe philosophies, policies, standards, guidelines and procedures to protect children from both intentional and unintentional harm.

Child Protection within the scope of this policy is defined as responsibilities measures and activities that Grace Educational Trust undertakes to safeguard children in their care from both intentional and unintentional harm. This includes protection from violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect. It is integrally linked to every other right of the child. Every child has a right to protection. This not only includes those who are in difficult circumstances and those who have suffered violence, abuse and exploitation but also those who are not in any of these adverse situations and yet need to be protected in order to ensure that they remain safe and free from harm.

DEFINITIONS OF CHILD ABUSE
(Definitions are in accordance with World Health Organisation)

 

General Definition

Child abuse or maltreatment constitutes all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power.

Physical abuse of a child is that which results in actual or potential physical harm from an interaction or lack of an interaction, which is reasonably within the control of a parent or person in a position of responsibility, power or trust. There may be single or repeated incidents.

Emotional abuse includes the failure to provide a developmentally appropriate, supportive environment, including the availability of a primary attachment figure, so that the child can develop a stable and full range of emotional and social competencies commensurate with her or his personal potentials and in the context of the society in which the child dwells. There may also be acts towards the child that cause or have a high probability of causing harm to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. These acts must be reasonably within the control of the parent or person in a relationship of responsibility, trust or power. Acts include restriction of movement, patterns of belittling, and denigrating, scapegoating, threatening, scaring, discriminating, ridiculing or other non-physical forms of hostile or rejecting treatment.

Neglect and negligent treatment is the failure to provide for the development of the child in all spheres: health, education, emotional development, nutrition, shelter, and safe living conditions, in the context of resources reasonably available to the family or caretakers and causes or has a high probability of causing harm to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. This includes the failure to properly supervise and protect children from harm as much as is feasible.

Sexual Abuse is the involvement of a child in sexual activity that he or she does not fully comprehend, is unable to give informed consent to, or for which the child is not developmentally prepared and cannot give consent, or that violate the laws or social taboos of society. Child sexual abuse is evidenced by this activity between a child and an adult or another child who by age or development is in a relationship of responsibility, trust or power, the activity being intended to gratify or satisfy the needs of the other person. This may include but is not limited to:

• The inducement or coercion of a child to engage in any unlawful sexual activity.
• The exploitative use of child in prostitution or other unlawful sexual practices.
• The exploitative use of children in pornographic performances and materials.

 

Exploitation – Commercial or other exploitation of a child refers to use of the child in work or other activities for the benefit of others. This includes, but is not limited to, child labour and child prostitution. These activities are to the detriment of the child’s physical or mental health, education, or spiritual, moral or social-emotional development.

Definition of “Partner” – for the purposes of this policy a “Partner” is defined as any organisation which receives funds from for Grace Educational Trust or any organisation which is involved in project work with children, on behalf of Grace Educational Trust.

Direct contact – being in the physical presence of a child or children in the context of the work of Grace Educational Trust.

Indirect contact – having access to information on children in the context of Grace Educational Trust’s work e.g children’s names, addresses of individuals or projects, photographs, videos and case studies

THE GRACE EDUCATIONAL TRUST CHILD PROTECTION POLICY 

Trustees, Staff and Volunteers

As a commitment to our Child Protection Policy, Grace Educational Trust will recruit trustees, staff and volunteers only after obtaining adequate background verification from references that there is no history of child exploitation, neglect or abuse. As a condition of working with our organisation all trustees, employees and volunteers are required to undergo the following:-

1. In the case of a UK resident, satisfactory clearance must be obtained through an ACRO check or equivalent police check where the person is not a UK resident. In the case of Indian nationals, a background check will be requested from the local police station.

2. To sign a personal declaration stating any criminal convictions, including those considered “spent” declaring any previous investigations or allegations made against them with respect to child protection issues.

3. Providing the name and contact information of two character references, whom they have known for not less than two years (excluding family members), one of which should be their last employer or place of study.

4. Trustees, staff and volunteers will agree to undertake any form of Child Protection training deemed appropriate and necessary by Grace Educational Trust.

5. Trustees, volunteers and staff will agree both acceptance of and commitment to our Child Protection Policy and Code of Conduct for working with children.

Communications about Children

Photographs of children will not be published either on the website or in publications without first obtaining permission from the designated Child Protection Officer at each project.

All publications and the website which contain images and text relating to children will not contain the following:-

• Manipulated or sensationalised text and/or images
• Discriminatory and degrading language
• Images where children are inappropriately clothed
• Images which violate a child’s dignity or privacy in any way
• The names of actual children
• Anything which might be used to identify the location of a child and put them at risk

All information relating to children must be held securely and limited only to those trustees, members of staff and volunteers who need to know and must be treated as confidential.

Management

The designated Child Protection Officer for Chimbel and Colva is Sister Francis Dass. The designated Child Protection Officer at Mango House and Learning Tree is Ashwini Gaonkar.

Code of Conduct

All trustees, staff and volunteers of The Grace Educational Trust who have direct contact with children will be informed of and required to sign that they will abide by Grace Educational Trust’s Code of Conduct.

Reporting Incidents

All witnessed, suspected or alleged violations of the Child Protection Policy will be immediately reported to the designated Child Protection Officer who will record and act on those in a confidential manner. Grace Educational Trust will take appropriate action to protect the child in question from further harm and also others in the organisation during and after an incident or allegation.

Ramifications of Misconduct

Pending the outcome of an investigation we will immediately suspend any trustee, employee or volunteer who is alleged to have violated our Child Protection Policy and Code of Conduct. We reserve the right to take disciplinary action against any of the above who have been proven guilty in an investigation. This may include reporting the incident to the police.

Any alarming or inappropriate behaviour of a staff member and action taken against that person will be noted in their personal record.