Sonke Gender Justice is committed to building an organisational culture of respect, diversity and equality, where people of all races, genders, sexual orientations and abilities are accepted and affirmed.
At Sonke we believe each one of us can work together to promote gender equality and prevent all forms of gender-based violence and discrimination. Protecting the human rights of all is core to our mission and vision. We believe we should live our values and so we are committed to ensuring the Sonke workplace is one that respects the dignity of all staff, interns, fellows, consultants, Community Action Team (‘CAT’) members, volunteers, partners and anyone accessing the services we offer – and empowers them to conduct their work in an environment free from harassment or abuse.
We believe in building an organisational culture of respect, diversity, equality and accountability that prevents harassment and abuse and empowers those affected to report incidents. Below we set out our commitment to building this culture as laid out in the Safeguarding Policy.
Sonke will…
- Conduct an annual training on sexual harassment, bullying, abuse and all other forms of harassment for all staff, CAT members, volunteers, interns and Board Members that is in line with international best practice.
- Ensure that the highest safeguarding standards are applied throughout our programmes and that best practice is shared across the sector.
- Ensure that Sonke representatives do not develop relationships with the community or individuals which could in any way be deemed exploitative or abusive.
- Ensure that Sonke representatives do not use language, make suggestions or offer advice which is inappropriate, offensive or abusive.
- Ensure that everyone who represents Sonke creates a safe environment for the individuals that they come into contact with free from exploitation and harm.
- Include questions on adherence to Sonke’s values, including sexual harassment, abuse, bullying, commitment to equality and non-discrimination in recruitment processes, 360 performance reviews and in the annual staff satisfaction survey.
- Offer a whistleblower email and SMS service where staff and non-staff can report all incidences of concern, including sexual harassment, bullying and abuse.
- Monitor all incidents of harassment, bullying or abuse and review the effectiveness of the Safeguarding Policy periodically.
- Maintain a register that records details of sexual harassment, bullying, abuse and all other forms of harassment.
- Ensure that all complaints of sexual harassment, bullying, abuse and all other forms of harassment are dealt with promptly, seriously and confidentially and in accordance with Sonke’s internal grievance procedure.
- Develop a risk management strategy on safeguarding.
- Include a criminal background check as part of our recruitment process.
Below is a list of key Sonke policies:
- Safeguarding Policy
- Sexual Harassment Policy
- Code of Conduct
- Whistleblower Policy
- Anti-Fraud, Corruption and Bribery Policy
View a selection of Sonke’s Safeguarding materials.
