Policies
Safeguarding Girls and Women
NEPSIS exists partly because Christian girls and women in Pakistan face discrimination, exploitation, violence, pressure surrounding faith, forced conversion and abduction. A ministry that names those dangers has an obligation to be safe itself.
Why safeguarding matters to NEPSIS
Safeguarding is not a compliance exercise added to the end of our work. It is part of what we believe about people.
If every woman carries the dignity we say she carries, then how she is spoken to, who is alone with her, what is done with her photograph, what happens to what she discloses, and what we do when someone in our own circle behaves badly are all theological questions, not administrative ones.
These principles apply to everyone who serves with NEPSIS, including its leadership, and they apply whether or not anyone is watching.
Our principles
The protection of a person outranks the reputation of the ministry
If protecting someone would embarrass NEPSIS, we protect the person. We will not manage a concern quietly in order to avoid difficulty.
Nobody is above being questioned
Position, ordination, seniority and family relationship do not exempt anyone from these principles. That includes the founder.
We work in the open
Teaching, mentoring and counselling with girls and young women take place in visible settings or with another responsible adult aware and nearby. We avoid situations that cannot be accounted for.
We stay inside our competence
Pastoral encouragement is not clinical, legal or medical care. When a situation requires more than we can responsibly offer, we help the person connect with qualified professionals or trusted organisations.
Working with girls
Discipleship with girls carries obligations that discipleship with adults does not.
- Parental or guardian awareness and permission for a girl's participation.
- More than one responsible adult present at gatherings for girls.
- Clear expectations for anyone who serves, agreed before they begin.
- No private one-to-one meetings in unaccountable settings.
- Communication with a girl that a parent or guardian could see without concern.
- Referral to qualified help when a disclosure goes beyond pastoral care.
Consent and photography
Photographs of girls and women are not neutral. In some circumstances a published image can expose a person to real risk.
- We ask permission before photographing, and again before publishing.
- Permission can be withdrawn later, and we will remove the image.
- We avoid publishing images that identify a girl in a counselling or crisis setting.
- We do not publish a person's image alongside a description of their difficulties in a way that identifies them.
- We do not use distressing imagery to raise support. Our published photographs show people with dignity, because that is how we see them.
Confidentiality in counselling
What a woman shares in a counselling or pastoral conversation stays there. There are two exceptions, and we state them at the beginning rather than afterwards: where someone is at risk of serious harm, and where the law requires disclosure. In those cases we act to protect the person, and wherever possible we tell her what we are doing and why.
A person's story is hers. It is not material for a newsletter, a sermon illustration or a funding appeal unless she has freely given permission for that specific use.
Raising a Concern
If Something Is Wrong, Tell Us
If you believe a girl or woman connected with NEPSIS is at risk, or that someone serving with NEPSIS has behaved wrongly, contact us directly. You do not need evidence and you do not need to be certain.
- You will be listened to, not managed.
- You will not be pressured to withdraw a concern or to keep it quiet.
- We will tell you what we are able to do, and what we are not.
- Where a matter requires the authorities or a qualified professional, we will say so.
If someone is in immediate danger, contact the emergency services first. Then tell us.
This policy is developing
The principles above are what NEPSIS holds and practises now. A fuller written safeguarding policy, including named responsibilities and a formal reporting procedure, is being prepared as the work grows and as registration progresses. Churches and partners who require sight of it before working with us are welcome to ask for the current version.