MOLESTATION/ SEXUAL ABUSE – STRATEGY AND INSURANCE
I want to deal briefly with a subject that has caused great angst
within the Christian community; one that no one likes talking about.
They certainly hope it doesn’t happen within their church or
organisation.
The issue is
molestation or sexual abuse. Sadly it happens. While in many ways the
emphasis is toward protection of children, it is a problem not
restricted to abuse of children nor is it restricted solely to
churches. It can also occur amongst adults and occur within any
organisation as we have all seen from media reports.
Crisis management strategies can be put into effect once an incident
occurs, and while this is important, it is far better to minimise the
potential problem by taking appropriate preventative action before it
happens.
I am not saying that
Christian groups should not have a crisis management plan; this is
quite important and has a very firm place should an incident occur.
What I am saying is that complete prevention is most important and
should be our aim. Any crisis management plan should include treating
any incidents or allegations seriously, involve police and include
counseling.
Most churches now have proactive checks in place to prevent these occurring.
The Law and requirements to check staff or volunteers differ from State
to state. Churches and groups who work with children are required to
adhere to these Laws.
While
the Law concentrates largely on children in this regard, molestation or
sexual abuse between adults is also unacceptable. Christian groups
working solely with adults should also have a protocol in place. The
risk is certainly there.
All
groups, whether working among children or not, should have in place an
effective risk management strategy for abuse and harassment. This
should be written and proactive.
When appointing new volunteers or staff the following may be of
assistance but don’t forget to vet existing volunteers or staff. EIG
Ansvar suggest:
- For non volunteers, enquired with two referees as to their suitability for the role or position;
- Enquired with their previous posting or employment as to their suitability for the role or position;
-
Enquired of them whether they have ever been convicted or investigated
for sexual abuse, assault or a sexual offence of any kind; Asked them
to sign an authority allowing you to conduct a search to determine
whether they have a criminal record and have conducted this search.
- Not placed unknown volunteers in a position of trust within their first six months of joining your organisation
- The two-person rule in place at all times.
With existing employees, volunteers, representatives, members or
service providers, please ensure you investigate fully any complaint
regarding any alleged sexual abuse, assault or offence.
If appropriate, remove that person from their role or position
This is only a brief list and we cannot recommend strongly enough that
all groups need to have in place an effective strategy. Do you have
one?
On the insurance side
our standard questionnaire asks if such cover is wanted, while some
seek and obtain cover, many do not want the cover nor do they have any
strategy in place to deal with the potential risk.
The “it can’t happen to us’ approach in our view is probably not realistic.
Whether insured or not the risk remains. The fact that insurance may be
provided doesn’t reduce or diminish that risk. What insurance does is
transfer part of the financial consequences of that risk to the
insurer. Insurance doesn’t cover the adverse publicity, the problems of
maintaining or having any effective ‘outreach’, those who may leave,
the difficulties of having to deal with the incident nor the trauma to
those involved or even those simply attending a church or group.
What should be included in such a strategy? The following is not complete but offers some assistance.
1. Develop and issue a policy statement
Many church denominations and groups have already done this. It is
important this be widely distributed within the organisation to show
the seriousness with which the group views this matter. Many of the
following key points will be incorporated into your policy statement.
2. Document how volunteers and staff are appointed
Not
only is it important to ‘filter’ staff for suitability but equally
important, there should be a process for screening volunteers also.
Obviously there is a large range of factors involved but here we are
dealing only with using/ employing those who have been checked and
vetted for the purpose of reducing molestation/ harassment risk.
Too often in the past the church has been a soft option for those with
malicious intent. As with many community based groups, a best practice
protocol is called for. Often one of the problems within a church can
be the need to have volunteers fill empty positions but this can often
create more problems than it solves – particularly if corners in say,
security vetting are cut.
The optimum is for all applicants (staff or volunteers) to be screened.
The following can be included in guidelines:
- Design an application form for both staff and volunteers – they might well be 2 documents.
- All applicants should complete a Consent/Application Form disclosing information requested.
-
They should be then interviewed by people with experienced interviewing
skills if possible. This may not be feasible for all volunteers but an
interview or chat is suggested.
-
Request the names and details of two referees, preferably from the
applicant’s previous church. Contact the referees and check their
assessment.
-
For positions involving the supervision of children, have the applicant
sign a document authorising the Church or group to obtain details of
any criminal activity from the police and Community Services.
-
Ask if they have ever been charged (and not convicted) or investigated
for any offence, molestation or harassment. Consider including a
question in this vein on an application form.
- Do the Police and Community Services check. Check the result. Do not merely file it away.
- Do not employ any person as a voluntary worker who has been worshipping at the Church for less than six (6) months.
-
All positions within the Church should be subject to a Probationary
Period. This will provide the Church with the opportunity to terminate
the workers role should there be any concerns about behavioural
irregularities.
3. Reducing the risk
Active and ongoing steps are needed to fully maintain the guidelines
with both children and adults, as there still remains a risk of abuse
happening. An environment needs to be created where that risk is
further reduced.
EIG- Ansvar put forward the following:
The following procedures are well established in many organisations:
- Create a reporting-friendly environment.
- Advise who children can talk to if they have a problem or are worried about something
-
Explain what appropriate and inappropriate behaviour is. A recognised
way of doing this is by rewriting your procedures in a language and
format that children will understand and respond to.
These suggestions can seem embarrassing or awkward but explicit details are not necessary.
-
Train staff to recognise the signs of abuse. Supervisors should be on
the look out for signs of exploitation within the group. An individual
being highly favoured, or being treated unduly harshly, may be a signal
that the relationship between the Church worker and the individual
concerned is one in which abuse may be occurring.
-
Always have two adults present when supervising children. No adult,
other than a child’s parent should ever be left alone in a room with a
child. If it is necessary for an adult to work one-on-one with a child,
it should be done in a room which can be observed easily by others.
- Leaders should avoid one-on-one counselling with members of the opposite sex. It is preferable to have another person present.
4. A response plan or crisis management strategy is important
EIG-Ansvar suggest: Whilst it is to be hoped that your Church never has
to deal with an allegation of sexual abuse, it is most important to
have in place a response plan so that from the moment an allegation
first surfaces, your people know where to turn.
- Use a standard reporting procedure/document for any allegation of abuse.
-
Treat each allegation seriously. Do not attempt to deny the allegation
or minimise its impact on the alleged victim. Do not sweep the matter
under the carpet.
-
Appoint an independent person to deal with any allegation. If a Church
is linked to a denomination, this person should be a denominational
appointee. Independence is most important. The name, address and
contact telephone number should be freely available to all leaders
within the organisation.
- Advise the authority with the statutory responsibility to investigate, namely social service or police.
- Advise your insurer immediately upon the commencement of an investigation.
Expert advice is available to assist your Church to develop its own
Policy Statement. Sexual abuse is a community problem and we all have a
duty to reduce the opportunity for such offences to occur.
Insurance
Insurance cover is not widely available but EA Insurance
can arrange this. It doesn’t negate the need for a written and active
strategy, but can provide financial protection (subject to exclusions).
You will be pleasantly surprised by the very low cost. What is
required, quite reasonably is that the applicant have a program in
place that can be agreed as acceptable by the insurer.
If your insurance program doesn’t include Sexual Molestation/
Harassment cover and you would like to know more, please contact us.
The insurance cover isn’t a full cover and there are – as might be
expected- some conditions. The main one being that there is no cover
given for known offenders.
The exclusion reads: Known Offenders Molestation/Sexual Abuse Exclusion
This policy does not cover the legal liability of the Insured to pay
damages or compensation to any third party, or legal costs associated
with any claim, in respect of an Injury sustained by a third party in
circumstances where:
- that injury arises either directly or indirectly from Sexual Abuse; and
- the perpetrator of the Sexual Abuse was a representative, member, employee, or service provider of the insured; and
- the insured knew or ought reasonably to have known that the perpetrator of the Sexual Abuse had previously:
(i) committed Sexual Abuse; &/or
- been convicted of Sexual Abuse; &/or
-
whilst being a representative, member, employee, or service provider of
the insured; been the subject of a prior complaint in respect of a
Sexual Abuse, which has not been appropriately investigated.
“Sexual Abuse”
includes any assault or abuse of a sexual nature, any type of
molestation, indecent exposure, sexual harassment or intimidation,
whether such act is the subject of criminal investigation or not.
“Injury” includes any physical, mental or psychological injury.
If EA Insurance can help you with insurance, or you have any questions or would like more information please contact us
______________________________________________________________________________
EA Insurance 2006 (email: insurance@ea.org.au , Phone: 03 9890 6851 )
