Our Safeguarding Journey

23/10/2023

News

"We decided to share this path together. There is no final objective other than safeguarding itself." - Sandra Neville, Safeguarding Consultant

More than 200 participants attended the UISG event held on 20 October, "Our Safeguarding Journey", which featured Sr. Jane Nway Nway Ei, Safeguarding Coordinator Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, Br. John Guiney SJ, Project Coordinator and Sandra Racionero-Plaza, Assistant Project Coordinator Society of Jesus, among the day's speakers.

Following an overview of the history of safeguarding, the work of the Good Shepherd Sisters, who now operate in no less than 72 different countries and have adopted, in terms of safeguarding, and especially in relation to minors, a common policy to be understood as the set of terminology, structure and procedures to be adopted in the context of safeguarding, was illustrated.

But, what specifically do we mean by 'safeguarding'?

Sandra Neville explained that it can be understood as the set of two key concepts: "do no harm" and "if we do harm, do we know what practices to implement to help those who have been harmed?"

When we talk about safeguarding, it is important to understand that we are not only talking about the protection of minors; rather, we are talking about a 'culture of safeguarding' and thus also about prevention, about practices that not only heal the wounds inflicted but also prevent them from being inflicted.

The focus must always be on the victim, on the trauma suffered and consequently also on the pain experienced; placing the victims at the centre of the discourse based on guardianship is inevitable. Indeed, the issue of abuse affects every sphere of society and it is for this reason that protocols, standards, and training are indispensable to deal with abuse and eradicate the problem at its root.

UISG Communications Office

29/10/2023

Barbato Giuseppina

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