Safeguarding Policy
Safeguarding policy
Our approach to protecting children and adults at risk, supporting people affected by abuse and acting safely when concerns are raised.
1. Our commitment
Everyone who contacts Freedom Charity deserves to be treated with dignity and taken seriously. We work to prevent forced marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM), domestic abuse, so-called honour-based abuse and related harms. No one should be put at greater risk because they asked us for help.
This policy covers trustees, staff and volunteers, contractors and people carrying out Freedom activities. It applies to schools, events, publications, digital learning, helpline messages and website enquiries. Safeguarding comes before fundraising, publicity or the charity’s reputation.
2. What Freedom does
Freedom provides prevention education, information and routes to specialist or statutory help. We respond to safeguarding concerns within our remit and capacity, and refer where necessary. We are not an emergency service, the police, social care, a healthcare provider or a legal adviser.
An external call-handling company answers Freedom’s helpline calls and passes enquiries to Freedom for follow-up. Its staff have received Freedom training, but the company does not itself provide Freedom’s specialist safeguarding advice. We do not promise continuous availability.
3. If someone is in danger
In immediate danger in the UK, call 999. For urgent child protection concerns, contact the local authority children’s social care service or police. For adults at risk, contact the local authority adult safeguarding service or police as appropriate. Do not wait for a reply from Freedom.
Think before calling or messaging a person who may be monitored by an abuser. A voicemail, email, text or call history could put them at risk.
4. Recognising a safeguarding concern
Concerns may arise through direct disclosures, school or professional referrals, signs of coercion, unsafe digital contact or the behaviour of someone acting for Freedom. We take physical, emotional, sexual, financial, discriminatory and online abuse, coercive control, exploitation, neglect and threats seriously.
Forced marriage and FGM can involve several perpetrators, monitored communications and pressure to travel abroad. Barriers to seeking help can be affected by disability, language, immigration status, sexuality, gender identity, age or other circumstances.
5. When someone tells us about abuse
We listen calmly, take the person seriously and avoid blame, judgement or unnecessary questioning. We assess immediate safety and whether it is safe to make further contact. We explain the limits of confidentiality: information may need to be shared where required by law or necessary to protect someone.
We make an accurate, restricted record of what was said, the risks identified and any action or referral taken. We refer promptly to the appropriate safeguarding body or police where necessary. Freedom does not investigate allegations itself or make promises about outcomes it cannot control.
6. Forced marriage and honour-based abuse
Freedom will not contact relatives or community figures, try to mediate between family members, or arrange reconciliation where forced marriage or so-called honour-based abuse is a concern. Doing so can increase danger.
We consider travel, overseas risks and the possibility of monitored devices or accounts. The Forced Marriage Unit and relevant statutory or specialist services may be appropriate sources of assistance. Emergency referrals take priority when someone is at immediate risk.
7. Female genital mutilation
FGM is a serious form of harm. Any concern that a girl may be at risk of FGM, or that a child has undergone FGM, needs an appropriate safeguarding response. No one at Freedom should examine a child for evidence of FGM.
In England and Wales, teachers and certain regulated health and social care professionals have a personal duty to report known cases of FGM in girls under 18 to police in specified circumstances. That duty does not automatically apply to every charity representative or to every suspicion of risk. Safeguarding action remains necessary where a mandatory report is not triggered. School staff must follow their own reporting obligations and safeguarding procedures.
8. Children, schools and learning
A child is anyone under 18. We agree safeguarding roles and escalation routes with schools and other hosts before activities take place. Education must be age-appropriate and should make it clear where a young person can seek help.
Children must not be asked to investigate abuse, contact alleged perpetrators, carry sensitive messages or recount traumatic experiences publicly. We consider consent and safeguarding risks when using photographs, recordings, stories, quotations or focus groups.
9. Adults at risk and choice
We aim to support adults to make informed decisions, recognising coercion, communication needs, mental capacity and the safety of others. Information sharing and referral decisions must be proportionate, lawful and based on the circumstances.
An adult’s disclosure does not automatically justify sharing all of their personal details without considering their wishes, the risk and the legal basis.
10. Concerns about someone acting for Freedom
A concern involving a trustee, volunteer, contractor, speaker or any other Freedom representative is not treated merely as a routine complaint. Immediate protection comes first, with referral to appropriate external authorities where necessary.
For allegations involving a person working with children, this may include the local authority designated officer (LADO) in England. People do not have to report concerns to the individual involved. Where there is an urgent risk, contact the police or the relevant statutory safeguarding service directly.
11. Recruitment, conduct and training
Freedom expects safe conduct and professional boundaries from everyone representing the charity. Recruitment and induction checks must match the role, with Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks where legally eligible and appropriate.
Relevant people receive safeguarding guidance and training appropriate to their responsibilities. Bullying, harassment, discrimination, exploitation, sexual misconduct and misuse of a role are not accepted.
12. Confidentiality, records and digital safety
We limit access to safeguarding information, collect and keep only what is necessary and use secure systems and appropriate retention procedures. Case information is not used for publicity or fundraising.
We consider privacy and digital safety when handling enquiries, online learning, websites and externally handled helpline messages. We cannot promise that internet use, phone calls or app activity leave no trace.
13. Listening to survivors and communities
People with lived experience inform Freedom’s education and prevention work, including through trustees and focus groups. We seek feedback to improve materials and approaches.
Participation should be voluntary and respectful. We do not publish someone’s identity or personal experience without appropriate informed consent and safeguarding consideration.
14. Responsibility and review
Trustees are collectively accountable for safeguarding. The trustees must appoint a safeguarding lead and an independent alternative, record their responsibilities and check that the arrangements work in practice. Personal contact details stay in restricted procedures.
Where required, serious incidents may be reported to the Charity Commission alongside referrals to the police, local authorities, the Information Commissioner’s Office or other appropriate bodies. We review our safeguarding arrangements at least annually and following material changes or serious incidents.
15. Reporting a concern about Freedom
If it is safe, you can use our contact page or email [email protected]. Please do not include unnecessary sensitive details in a general web form.
You can also use our Complaints procedure. If a safeguarding concern involves someone at Freedom, you may report directly to the police or relevant statutory safeguarding authority, especially where the concern is urgent. No one should be required to disclose their concern to the person it concerns.