Child Protection Policy

Introduction

Jeeva Jothi from the very beginning is a human rights organisaiton focusing on child rights. The culture at JJ is human rights culture, all actions of its members are guided by human rights principles. The children under the care of JJ are nurtured and groomed to be torch bearers of human right principles and hence all its programmes are designed to inculcate human rights as a value.

A pre-requisite to a human rights bases society is education only education will empower lives hence JJ provides all support required for children particularly girl children to get educated to the highest level. The children are groomed to assert and claim their rights and also respect others rights and by fully committed to their responsibilities and duties towards fellow citizens, family, colleagues and the country. According to protecting child rights is protecting the childhood of a child hence it ensures the child respects local customs, laws and norms. They are imparted knowledge to discern the goodness of local customs and culture (like traditional folk arts, customs and yoga etc) within the framework of human rights and social justice, equality and equity. The children learn to question customs which enforces all form of discrimination and exploitation primarily on basis of gender and caste. They are empowered to question and break stereotypes and form society with human rights consciousness.

Staff of JJ who are primary interface with children are given periodic orientation on child abuse and protection mechanisms in vogue in JJ.

A written undertaking is taken from them committing to child protection policy.

A through back ground check in ensured before appointing any human resource.

As per The Constitution of India, Article 15(3), State must make special provisions for children. Article 39 of Part IV of the Constitution asks the State to direct its policy towards securing the protection of Children from all forms of harm. In line with above affirmation the National Commission of Children Rights of India has formulated laws to be adhered by any organization particularly organizations working for children.

At Jeeva Jyothi we follow a zero tolerance policy towards any forms of abuse of children and true to its commitment it has a robust child protection mechanism in the organisaiton.The policy implementation is reviewed periodically and thus the children associated with Jeeva Jyothi are safe from all forms of abuse including digital abuse. Our policy framework have three major component as follows-

AWARENESS & TRAINING

All representatives receive training and contextualized support in order to prevent, report, and respond to safeguarding concerns. Representatives are made aware of the expectation to comply with this policy. Children and their families will be made aware of the standards of behavior they can expect from our representatives and of how they can raise a concern.

PREVENTION

Staff and other stakeholders will receive support to ensure that they create a safe, healthy environment where children’s rights are respected and child abuse is prevented.

REPORTING

All representatives know how to report and a SOP is in place for all concerned to follow in case of any complaint of abuse of suspicion of abuse.

RESPONDING

We are committed to respond to any information of abuse however trivial the incident may be. We engage in action that supports and protects children and ensure that course corrections are made to avoid such incidents in future, making JJ a safe place for children.

1. What Constitutes Child Abuse?

Child abuse or maltreatment constitutes all forms of physical and/or emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect or negligent treatment or commercial or other exploitation, resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, develoProgram Managerent or dignity in the context of a relationship of responsibility, trust or power(Source: A report of the consultation on child abuse prevention, WHO, Geneva, 29-31 March 1999, defines child abuse as).

Jeeva Jyothi Staff and Fellows must be aware of the following types of abuse and understand that they are prohibited as per this policy.

Physical abuse: The intentional use of physical force against a child that results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity. This includes hitting, beating, kicking, shaking, biting, strangling, scalding, burning, poisoning and suffocating.

Emotional abuse: Emotional abuse includes the failure to provide a developmentally appropriate, supportive environment, so that the child can develop a stable and full range of emotional and social competencies commensurate with his or her personal potential and in the context of the society in which the child dwells. Acts include restriction of movement, patterns of belittling, denigrating, scapegoating, threatening, scaring, discriminating, ridiculing or other non-physical forms of hostile or rejecting treatment.

Neglect and negligent treatment: We hold ourselves responsible that all children in our class are free from our neglect. Neglect is the failure on the part of the parents, guardian, teacher or other responsible party to provide for the child's basic needs, such as food, shelter, medical care, educational opportunities, or protection and supervision. It is abuse through omission of the necessary environment and resources for the child to reach their full potential; and the act of not recognizing physical or emotional abuse.

Exploitation: Commercial or other exploitation of a child refers to use of the child in work or other activities for the benefit of others. This includes, but is not limited to, child labour and child prostitution. These activities are to the detriment of the child’s physical or mental health, education, or spiritual, moral or social-emotional development.

Sexual abuse: Sexual abuse is an act or behaviour which constitutes a sexual offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, as amended from time to time. Such sexual offences include penetrative sexual assault (including rape), non-penetrative sexual assault (including touching the private parts of a Child), sexual harassment (including stalking a Child, showing a Child pornography and making a Child exhibit his/her body) and using a Child for pornographic purposes (including storing of pornographic material involving a Child for commercial purposes).

. An abetment of and an attempt to commit a sexual offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 are also considered to be offences. Certain offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 are considered to be aggravated offences and are subject to stringent punishments. For instance, sexual assault committed by persons in a position of trust or authority in relation to the Child (including relatives of the Child, persons managing or working in an educational institution, police officers or public servants) are considered to be aggravated offences.

2. Scope of Application of the Child Protection Policy

This CPP is applicable to all part time and full time employees (including but not limited to Staff, Fellows, Interns) of Jeeva Jyothi and any other person who has been bound to the Child Protection Policy as per their contractual agreement with Jeeva Jyothi.

This policy will be shared and explained to all school HMs/Lead teachers

Our government schools are governed by their respective state level Child Protection Policies

We will encourage our low income private schools to adopt this policy if they do not have a similar one of their own

3. Expected Conduct

Expected Behaviour and Actions	Prohibited Behaviour and Actions
Treat every Child with empathy and respect, regardless of his/her race, colour, gender, sexuality, language, religion, religious belief, heritage, political/other opinion, national/ethnic/social origin or property/disability/birth/other status	Do not use language or behaviour towards Children that is inappropriate, harassing, abusive, sexually provocative, demeaning, intimidating, offensive, discriminatory or culturally insensitive.
Listen to Children and respect their views.
Ensure that physical contact with a Child is respectful, culturally appropriate and essential to the purpose of your interaction with the Child.	Do not use any form of corporal punishment on Children
Establish an atmosphere that fosters the development of Children through your actions and words.	Do not place a Child at risk of harm or abuse and do not harm or abuse any Child physically, emotionally or sexually.
Always take permission from Children before taking their photos or videos.	Do not share with or show Children (electronically or in any other form) inappropriate content including pornographic material or material encouraging crime, violence, terrorism, racism, sexism, self-harm, suicide cruelty and gambling.
Keep all personal information about Children or their parents/guardians confidential and secure and ensure that such information is dispensed to only those individuals who are legitimately entitled to it.
	Do not develop, induce or support physical or sexual relationships with Children, in any way.
	Do not use or encourage the use of alcohol, drugs, cigarettes or other intoxicating substances while interacting with Children and from providing such intoxicating substances to Children.
	Do not develop any form of relationship or arrangement (financial or otherwise) with Children which could in any way be deemed to be exploitative or abusive. Do not use Child labour in any form.
Attend all the applicable training sessions and workshops on the CPP and Child-related laws conducted by the Organization. Ensure you implement the lessons learned from such sessions and workshops.

4. Jeeva Jyothi’s Measures to Prevent Child Abuse

On-Boarding Staff and Fellows

.All Fellows and Staff self declare previous cases of criminal offence and child mistreatment as part of their application to Jeeva Jyothi

All Fellows and Staff will undergo child protection awareness training

Enforce Child safety guidelines that are required to be followed by the Staff and Fellows during excursions, picnics and educational tours. Ensuring that all Fellows and Staff sign a copy of the Child Protection Policy.

Attempt to ensure that visitors to a school are accompanied by a Staff Member or a Fellow.

Where the organization undertakes any research on Children or collects data on them, ensuring that Children are not harmed or traumatized in any way during the process

Partnerships to Support Implementation where possible

Partnering with organisations to conduct age-appropriate sessions on personal safety of Students (including modules/materials on body parts, online safety, protection from Child abuse and services available for the protection of Children)

Partnering with organisations working in the area of child abuse and child rights, to support Staff and Fellows in effective implementation of the CPP.

. Redressal Mechanisms: Assigning responsibility to specific individuals or groups of individuals within the organisation to ensure procedures and arrangements are in place for effective implementation of the policy and redressal of Child abuse complaints. These include: