Your Safety at 5Rights: A guide for youth engaged with 5Rights

What is this guide?

This guide explains how 5Rights keeps children and young people safe.

You have the right to feel safe, be treated with respect, and have your voice heard.

Who is this for?

This guide is for everyone involved in the 5Rights Youth Engagement Programme — including Youth Network members, Youth Ambassadors, Youth Council members, the podcast team, and other children and young people working with 5Rights.

What is safeguarding?

Safeguarding means making sure you are:

Safe and well
Treated fairly
Protected from harm

It includes:

Helping you know how to raise a concern and say no to involvement
Making sure adults behave appropriately
Preventing bullying, harm, neglect, or abuse
Protecting your privacy and data

Your rights

At 5Rights, you have the right:

To be included and not discriminated against — based on who you are, where you’re from, or what you believe or whom you like.
To be safe and supported — wherever and however you engage with us
To speak up and be listened to — your voice matters and should influence decisions
To be treated with dignity and respect — no one should bully, threaten, or dismiss you
To have your identity and data protected — we will never share your information without your permission
To participate voluntarily – you will never be forced to join an activity
To say no to sharing your image, voice, or words publicly — and to change your mind later
To ask questions and get clear information — especially before you agree to take part in something
To make decisions about your level of involvement — including how visible or anonymous you want to be in activities
To stop participating at any time without being punished or excluded
To privacy — especially in how we store, use, and share your data
To be free from abuse, harassment, or harm — in person and online
To report a concern and be taken seriously — no matter how small it feels
To access help or support — from us or from someone else you trust

We understand that your comfort level may change over time. So:

You will always be asked before 5Rights uses your photos or voice.
You will always be informed when your contributions are published.
We’ll ask you (and your parent or legal guardian if you’re under 18) to sign a permission (consent) form before we use your photos, videos or other contributions publicly in reports or on social media or with outside partners (like media or events)
You can ask us to remove your contribution from our websites, social media or other 5Rights channels at any time.
If your contribution has been shared by other organizations or published elsewhere, we’ll always do our best to help remove it, but we can’t guarantee this will always be possible.
Someone working with or for 5Rights will not contact or engage with you through personal social media accounts. If you need support or have questions, you will always be directed to the Youth Engagement team or another designated member of staff who is trained and responsible for those interactions.

Your data

We collect only what we need — like your name, email, and anything you choose to share.

We keep:

Your basic details for two years after your involvement ends
Permission (consent) forms will be kept for two years after materials are no longer being used

You can:

Ask what data we have about you
Ask us to delete it at any time

For more details, you can ask to see our full Data Protection Policy: https://5rightsfoundation.com/child-friendly-privacy-policy/

What we expect from everyone

At 5Rights:

All staff, trustees, and partners follow a Code of Conduct that protects children, young people, and vulnerable adults
All staff has a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, which is an official background check about crimes a person has taken. If that were the case, the person is not hired.
No other adult than the Youth Engagement team should contact you on your personal phone, email, or social media. At the moment Carissa and Lisann are working in the Youth Engagement team.
Everyone is expected to treat each other with kindness and respect

If someone is making you feel unsafe or uncomfortable, tell us. We will listen and take it seriously.

If you’re worried or need help

If something doesn’t feel right, or if you’re worried about yourself or someone else, you can talk to:

A parent, carer, teacher or another trusted adult
Someone from the 5Rights Youth Engagement team that you know
Our trained safeguarding leads if you have a concern about 5Rights staff. You can reach Clément Taquet or Liz Rivers under safeguarding@5rightsfoundation.com

We’ll listen to what you want to tell us, explain what happens next, and help you find the right support.

If we think that you or someone else may be at risk of harm, we may need to share the information with people who can help keep you safe. Whenever possible, we’ll explain this to you first. You can also find free, confidential helplines in your country here: https://childhelplineinternational.org/helplines/

You won’t get into trouble for speaking up. We’re here to listen, support you, and help you find the right person to talk to.