Children Young People and Adults at risk Safeguarding Policy

Introduction

It is a core part of the Iris Prize Festival and Iris Prize Outreach (collectively
referred to as Iris Prize) to engage with members of the public which includes
children & young people (any person up to, but not including the age of 18)
and adults at risk. An adult at risk is:

“A person who is 18 years of age or over, and who is 1, experiencing or at
risk of abuse and neglect; 2, has care and support needs (whether or not
those needs are being met); and 3, As a result of those needs is unable to
protect themselves against abuse or neglect or the risk of it.”
Social services and Well-being Act (Wales) 2014

This policy sets out our procedures, including dealing with disclosure or
incidents, in respect of the protection of Children, Young People and Adults at
Risk engaging with Iris Prize at all of our events and activities and is to be
adhered to by all staff, committee and board members, contractors and
volunteers (referred to as Iris Team Members) at Iris Prize events and
activities.

Iris Prize and Iris Team Members are committed to the safeguarding and
welfare of any children, young people and adults at risk who come along to its
events or have any connection with Iris Prize. This policy also reflects our
commitment to maximize the potential of our participants and to prevent any
abuse, whilst taking any concerns seriously and responding to these concerns
quickly and appropriately within the policy guidelines.

1. Legal Context

Iris Prize has a duty, under the Children’s Acts of 1989, 2002 and 2004 (England
and Wales), and a duty under the Care Act 2014 (England) an dthe Social
Services and Wellbeing Act (Wales) 2014, to promote and safeguard the
welfare of children, young people and adults at risk who attend or participate
in Iris Prize events and activities.

In addition, Iris Prize recognises the United Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child (UNCRC) which sets in place the rights of a child or young person
across the countries which have signed this treaty. In 1991 the UK government
signed this treaty and committed itself to the full implementation.

“Children have the right to be protected from all forms of violence; they
must be kept safe from harm. They must be given proper care by those
looking after them.”
Article 19 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

2. Key Principles

• All Iris Team Members have a responsibility to support the care and
protection of children, young people and adults at risk.

• Every person has equal rights to protection from abuse and exploitation.

• Any concern, no matter how small, needs to be reported immediately.

• It is not our role to investigate abuse, it is our role to alert and describe
our concerns.

• The requirement to safeguard children and adults at risk MUST override
any personal feelings Iris Team Members may have towards either the
alleged victim or alleged perpetrator.

• If Iris Team Members are concerned about the impact a referral for
potential harm may have upon their role within Iris Prize, they should
include this concern within the referral.

3. Child Abuse

There is no collective definition of ‘at risk of child abuse or harm’, but it is
generally agreed as:

A child is a person aged under 18. Harm is ill treatment which includes sexual
abuse, neglect, emotional abuse, psychological abuse and financial abuse.
Harm is the impairment of physical or mental health (including that suffered
from seeing or hearing the ill treatment of another). Harm is the impairment of
physical, intellectual, emotional, social and behavioural development. The
term ‘at risk’ means that actual abuse does not need to take occur.
All Wales Safeguarding Procedures, 2020

4. Categories of Abuse

Physical Abuse – May involve hitting, shaking, throwing, poisoning, burning
or scalding, drowning or suffocating or otherwise causing physical harm to a
child/young person or vulnerable adult. Physical harm may also be caused
when a parent or carer fabricates or induces illness in a child/young person
or adult at risk whom they are looking after.

Sexual Abuse – Forcing or enticing a child/young person or adult at risk to
take part in sexual activities, whether or not they are aware of what is
happening, may involve: physical contact, including penetrative or nonpenetrative acts; non-contact activities, such as involving children or
vulnerable adults in looking at, or in the production of pornographic
material or watching sexual activities; or encouraging children or adults at
risk to behave in sexually inappropriate ways.

Neglect – can be a single event or a persistent failure to meet a child/young
person or adult at risk’s, basic physical and/or psychological needs, likely to
result in the serious impairment of their health or development. It may
involve a parent or carer failing to provide adequate food, shelter and
clothing, failing to protect a child or vulnerable adult from physical harm or
danger, or the failure to ensure access to appropriate care or treatment. It
may also include neglect of, or unresponsiveness to, a child or adult at risk’s
basic emotional needs.

Emotional Abuse. Emotional abuse is the emotional ill treatment (often
persistent) of a person such as to cause severe and persistent adverse
effects on their emotional development. It may involve conveying to a child
or adult at risk that they are worthless or unloved, inadequate or valued
only in so far as they meet the needs of another person. It may feature age
or developmentally inappropriate expectations being imposed on children
or vulnerable adults. It may involve causing them frequently to feel
frightened or in danger, or the exploitation or corruption of children or
vulnerable adults. Some level of emotional abuse is involved in all types of
ill treatment of a child or adult at risk, though it may occur alone.

Sexual Exploitation is the coercion or manipulation of children or adults at
risk into taking part in sexual activities. It is a form of sexual abuse involving
an exchange of some form of payment or exchange of goods or services
which can include money, mobile phones and other items, drugs, alcohol, a
place to stay, ‘protection’ or affection. The vulnerability of the person and
grooming process employed by perpetrators renders them powerless to
recognise the exploitative nature of relationships and unable to give
informed consent.

Sexual exploitation, for the purpose of this procedure guide, includes:
abuse through exchange of sexual activity for some form of payment; abuse
through the production of indecent images and/or any other indecent
material involving children and vulnerable adults whether photographs,
films or other technologies; abuse through grooming whether via direct
contact or the use of technologies such as mobile phones and the internet;
abuse through trafficking for sexual purposes.

5. Procedures

Iris Prize will follow the All Wales Safeguarding Procedures that have been
endorsed by the All Wales Safeguarding Board.

6. Professional Practice

At all times, Iris Team Members should be professional when working with
members of the public. The following gives examples of practices never to be
condoned when working with children, young people and adults at risk:
In respect of children, young people and adults at risk you should never: –

• Take them to your home or other secluded place where they will be
alone with you.

• Provide unsupervised lifts in vehicles

• Share a room

• Engage in rough, physical or sexually provocative games.

• Allow or engage in any form of inappropriate touching. Hugging
should be avoided where possible.

• Make sexually suggestive remarks – even in fun.

• Reduce them to tears as a form of control.

• Allow them to use inappropriate language unchallenged.

• Allow allegations made by them to go unchallenged, unrecorded or
not acted upon.

• Do things of a personal nature for them that they can do for
themselves.

• Depart from the premises until you have supervised their safe
dispersal/collection

• Abuse your privileged position of power or trust.

• Resort to bullying tactics, or verbal abuse.

• Cause a participant to lose self-esteem by embarrassing, humiliating
or undermining the individual.

• Spend excessive amounts of time alone with a one person away from
others.

• Collude with any comments that suggest they deserved to be
harmed, including being smacked.

Iris Prize accepts that on occasion there may be situations where the
unexpected does occur. In these situations, you should report immediately to
another colleague and make a brief written note of the event. Where
appropriate ensure that the parent/guardian or carer is informed of any
incident.

Examples could include: –
– If a person becomes distressed in your presence.
– If you accidentally hurt a someone.
– If they misunderstand/misinterpret something you have said or done.

7. Suspicion of Abuse

If you see or suspect abuse of a child, young person or adult at risk
immediately make this known to the designated safeguarding
individual/manager.

It is not the responsibility of Iris Team Members to decide that the child, young
person or adult at risk is being abused but it is their responsibility to act upon
any concerns.

It is acknowledged that taking appropriate action may not be easy and in
particular, the discovery that an Iris Team Member is, or may be, abusing a
child, young person or vulnerable adult will raise concerns and emotional
feelings among other colleagues.

Iris Prize is concerned with the wellbeing and safety of all Iris Team Members
and we will support anyone who in good faith, and where they have
reasonable grounds for doing so, reports their concerns that a child may have
been abused.

8. Disclosure of Abuse

If a child/young person or adult at risk tells you that they or another person is
being abused: –

• Always stop and listen straight away, show that you take their
allegations seriously.

• Encourage them to talk, but do not ask leading questions, interrupt or
ask them to repeat itself.

• Never promise that you will keep what is said confidential or secret –
explain that if you are told something very important you will need to
sort it out, but that you will only tell the people who need to know.

• Record what you have been told accurately and as soon as possible. Use
the person’s own words if possible. Make a note of the time, location,
whether anyone else present and of the person’s demeanor.

• Ensure that your concerns are reported immediately to the designated
individual/manager

• Do not confront the alleged abuser.

9. Handling Allegations

If a child/young person or adult at risk makes an allegation against an Iris Team
Member it must be reported as a matter of urgency to the designated
manager/individual for safeguarding who will decide on any further action.
If the allegation is against the designated person, then the information should
be reported to another senior manager or directly to the Local Authority Child
and/or Adults at risk Protection officer. (This would generally be referred to
the authority in which the alleged incident took place).

The alleged perpetrator should not be made aware of the allegation at this
point.

10. RecordiNG

In all situations the details of allegation or reported incident must be recorded.
Make accurate notes of time, dates, incident or disclosure, people involved,
what was said and done and by whom, action taken to investigate, further
action taken e.g. suspension of individual and if relevant: reasons why the
matter was not referred to a statutory agency, name of person reporting and
to whom it was reported.

The record must be stored securely and shared only with those who need to
know.

DO NOT worry that you might be mistaken; you have a responsibility to pass
on your concerns following a disclosure. Never think abuse is impossible, or
that an accusation about a person you know well, and trust is bound to be
wrong.

IT IS YOUR DUTY TO REFER CONCERNS ON, NOT TO INVESTIGATE

The Designated Individuals/Manager:
Grant Vidgen
 Company Manager
07440 553669
grant@irisprize.org

Berwyn Rowlands Festival Director
07860 818294
berwyn@irisprize.org