Partnership with Global Safeguarding Alliance

Project team

Douglas Russell and Prof Daryl Higgins, Institute of Child Protection Studies, ACU

Funding

Benevolentia, managed by Porticus

Aim

Create a more connected and integrated academic and professional network focused on safeguarding in the Church and other sectors.

Background

The Global Safeguarding Alliance (GSA) has engaged the Institute of Child Protection Studies to lead interactions between GSA researchers and Church leaders, safeguarding professionals, trauma specialists and other relevant research end-users in Catholic entities internationally. Our audience will include Church leaders, ministers, clergy, religious men and women (brothers and nuns/sisters), and safeguarding managers.

Our vision is to integrate academic and professional work focused on safeguarding in the Catholic Church. Forming strong connections within a network will facilitate a mutually beneficial exchange of safeguarding knowledge to improve prevention of child sexual abuse, and knowledge about research methods suitable for difference context.

To keep up to date with GSA news and events, follow our newsletter.

Project details

Our global audience will learn about what kind of safeguarding strategies are being used across the Church in other countries, and how effective they are. They will learn about safeguarding strategies used in different contexts such as education, ministry and social work. And they will increase their knowledge about different types of research design.

We will reach our audience using a range of channels, including a newsletter and social media platforms. The newsletter will highlight the latest research and profiles of key researchers of safeguarding practice.

Research and knowledge will be shared via series of webinars and resources. Two webinars have already been delivered:

1. What is a good measure? (April 2024) In this webinar, Gabby Hunt (Research Officer at ICPS) presented findings from a comprehensive review of the measures identified in the 2023 Evidence Gap Map, and that are used to assess the achievement of safeguarding aims within institutional settings. She described their strengths and their limitations, and analysed the reliability and validity of measures for a range of cultural settings.
2. Global study of Church leaders and safeguarding capabilities (October 2024) Douglas Russell, Senior Research Officer, presented findings from interviews with adults in Catholic Church: clergy, school teachers, laity and other church-related roles. He gave details about the kinds of participants who took part in the survey, and the differences between clergy and laypeople. Interestingly, higher knowledge correlates with lower confidence to act. This has lots of potential for further studies, and not just in faith-based institutions but in all sectors.

To receive news about new webinars and resources, follow our newsletter.

Publications

Russell, D.H., Higgins, D. J., Harris, L., Rinaldi, A., Pound, M., & Zollner, H. (2024). The Safeguarding Capability of Adults in Catholic Church Ministries: A Global Perspective. Child Abuse & Neglect, Volume 153, 106801, ISSN 0145-2134.

G, Hunt. (2023). Measuring children's safety in organisations: Evaluating the strengths and limitations of currently-used measures. Giving Evidence.

Webinars

What is a good measure? presented by Gabby Hunt PhD candidate, Institute of Child Protection Studies, 25 March 2024

Global study of Church leaders and safeguarding capabilities, presented by Douglas Russell, Senior Research Officer, Institute of Child Protection Studies, 24 September 2024

Boundary breaking, presented by Dr Marcus Pound, Associate Professor of Catholic Theology at Durham University, 10 December 2024

Newsletter

Our first newsletter published on behalf of the Global Safeguarding Alliance is now available. A link will be published soon. The newsletter features a spotlight on Sr Rejoice Enyonam Hoedoafia, PhD, a founding member of the Global Safeguarding Alliance.

20 December 2024: Welcome to our first newsletter

Links

• Global Safeguarding Alliance
• Benevolentia
• Porticus

Project timeline

2023 to 2025

Contact

For further information feel free to send us an email.