Our Core Principles
Our principles are the keystones of our approach to meeting the expectations of everyone concerned with and involved in protecting children and vulnerable adults from sexual abuse.
The Context of our Principles
Child sexual abuse is rising. It may never be possible to eliminate sexual abuse, but we want to get as close to eliminating it as possible.
The costs of failing to prevent sexual abuse can already destroy organizations, and they are all rising. Most organizations have little protection if they fail to prevent sexual abuse. We equip organizations to protect minors and vulnerable adults well and, if they do so, to be able to defend themselves if sexual abuse nonetheless happens.
Because of increased media coverage around sexual abuse failures, expectations about child protection are rising. We enable organizations to meet expectations and keep doing so as expectations evolve.
The scale and scope of sexual abuse risk mean organizations must use best practices to protect children and themselves from sexual abuse and its consequences. We enable organizations to use risk management best practices to prevent sexual abuse and manage sexual abuse risk, even if their only previous experience with risk management is compliance.
Principles for Parents, Guardians, and Everyone Interested in Preventing Sexual Abuse
Your only sexual abuse concern is that everything possible is done to ensure sexual abuse doesn’t happen. The principles that matter most to you are:
Principles for Organization Boards and Owners
Your primary sexual abuse concern is that you do everything possible to ensure it doesn’t happen. However, you also need to consider what happens if it does because you know no prevention system can be 100% effective all the time, and you cannot afford a significant sexual abuse event.
At the same time, you must also be mindful to carefully allocate your limited resources across all the demands on them. So, in addition to a parent’s principles, the principles that matter to you are:
Principles for SAM Risk Managers
As a sexual abuse risk manager, you are likely responsible for maintaining your organization’s safe environment program. Your organization has never had a sexual abuse problem, so you are confident you are doing well.
That said, you are aware of the increased profile of sexual abuse in the media, that people are discussing it more, and that your insurance costs have risen sharply.
You sense you could do more to protect children, not because you are doing a poor job now but to meet rising expectations. Unfortunately, you are not a child protection, abuse prevention, or risk management expert, so you’re unsure what else to do. No sense of urgency exists because no one is actively pushing you to change.
In any event, you also assume (incorrectly, as it happens) that as long as you comply with your safe environment obligations, you and your organization will be protected if sexual abuse occurs.
In addition to the principles applicable to parents and owners, the following principles are important to you: