Safeguarding statement

Sense International exists to support children and adults with deafblindness to realise their rights – including their right to protection from violence, exploitation, abuse, neglect and harm. 

We take our responsibility to keep people safe seriously, and continually strive to embed good practice across the organisation and beyond.  

We understand safeguarding to be about ensuring the safety and well-being of everyone with whom we work – including people with deafblindness, their families, carers, and other professionals, as well as members of communities and entities such as organisations of people with disabilities. This obligation naturally extends to our own staff, trustees, volunteers and interns, as well as those in our partner organisations and other personnel associated with Sense International. 

Our approach to safeguarding involves promoting a culture of safety for all and practising this in every aspect of the organisation’s day-to-day life. It also involves taking action for and on behalf of children and vulnerable adults who are suffering, or are at risk of suffering, significant harm as a result of abuse, exploitation or neglect. 

Sense International has a zero-tolerance approach to bullying, harassment, violence, exploitation and abuse, and so we have made the following commitments to keep people safe: 

Our staff will maintain the highest standards of conduct and practice. Our staff are carefully selected to ensure that they are suitable to carry out their roles. The standards that they are expected to uphold are set out in organisational policies, reinforced through regular training, and endorsed by a positive work culture which openly discusses and promotes good safeguarding practice. 

We will support our partners and others to build and endorse good practice. Partnership and collaboration is fundamental to our work, and so we often involve other organisations, groups and entities in the delivery of our programmes. We seek to understand the policy, procedure and practice of our partners and to support them where assistance is required to build and strengthen good practice. 

We will listen to all safeguarding concerns that are reported to us and take appropriate action. We have a clear procedure which can be used by anyone to report a concern. When a report is made, our response will be guided by this procedure. We will establish actions that are appropriate to the nature of the case and aligned with the legal obligations and reporting mechanisms in the locality where the concern is raised. In our handling of reports, we will respect confidentiality as far as possible, involving individuals and entities on a ‘need to know’ basis. 

We will proactively champion meaningful participation in safeguarding work. In line with our values, we will ensure that persons with deafblindness, their family members, and their representative organisations, are able to contribute to and participate in our safeguarding work. We will do this by sharing information and providing opportunities to offer feedback and propose ideas through consultation. 

As part of our efforts to uphold these commitments, Sense International is building a comprehensive Safeguarding System – a suite of policies, procedures, tools and resources to guide good safeguarding practice in all aspects of our work. A number of key policies and documents form a central component of the Safeguarding System. These include: 

The Safeguarding System continues to grow as we build on our work to-date. If you would like to learn more about safeguarding at Sense International, please refer to Our Policies. Alternatively, you can contact your nearest Sense International office directly. 

If you wish to raise a safeguarding concern, you can contact us directly using our global mailbox: report@senseinternational.org.uk, or by calling this number: +44 7866 593863.  

All reports will be treated confidentially.