We are watching! We do not tolerate sexual exploitation, abuse or other border violations.

10 Principles

The charter comprises 10 principles relating to the four areas of prevention concepts, empowerment of people in need of support, the key role of employees and the establishment of an internal reporting centre and external ombudsman. The principles apply to all persons who work in or are supported by institutions or organisations.

The undersigned associations, institutions and organisations are committed to the following principles for the prevention¹ of sexual exploitation, abuse and other boundary violations. The principles apply to all persons who work in or are supervised by our institutions and organisations.

Prevention and intervention concept

Our institutions and organisations have concepts in place to prevent sexual exploitation, abuse and other boundary violations. We use internal and external communication to help maintain the necessary sensitivity. This includes ensuring that everyone involved is familiar with the concepts and the code of conduct.

The procedure in the event of suspicion or a case of sexual exploitation, abuse and other boundary violations is regulated and known to all employees, the people receiving support and care and their relatives. Decisions are made by an internal crisis team with impartial external support. All suspicions are investigated (zero tolerance policy).

Key role of management and employees

A thorough and careful approach must be taken when recruiting and selecting staff. The submission of a special private extract and/or private extract is a prerequisite for employment for employees² who are in direct contact with people with special support needs. Employers check the references carefully (completeness) and obtain references before hiring, which also provide information on dealing with proximity and distance.

When new employees join our institutions and organisations, they sign a code of conduct. In this code of conduct, they undertake to manage proximity and distance or risk situations in everyday life in a clear, careful and transparent manner and to actively participate in the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy with regard to sexualised violence and to report suspected cases. They recognise the prevention and intervention concept as part of the employment contract.

Our institutions and organisations cultivate a culture of attentive observation and transparency. We part company with employees who evade or resist this culture.

We regularly conduct further training on the topic of "sexual exploitation, abuse and other boundary violations" and offer this to all employees (including volunteers) who are involved in our institutions and organisations.

We write truthful, complete references and confirmations of employment and provide the same reference information.

¹The responsibility to actively promote prevention is based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Lanzarote Convention and the Istanbul Convention, all of which have been ratified by Switzerland.
²Taking into account the proportionality of one-off short assignments, especially for volunteers.

Internal reporting office and external specialist centre

In our institutions and organisations, there is an internal, low-threshold reporting office with a professionally competent contact person whose mandate (as part of the prevention concept) is known to employees, people with special support needs, legal representatives and relatives and has a clear interface with management or the internal crisis team. All persons also have the option of contacting an external centre.

Strengthening people with special support needs

Promoting the self-competence of people with special support needs in our institutions and organisations is a high priority with regard to dealing with closeness and distance, setting boundaries and their own sexuality. They are supported in recognising boundary violations and breaches of their integrity, defending themselves against them and reporting them.

People who are highly dependent on care and support are particularly included in this support and are empowered to express their defences and signal boundary violations according to their abilities. For this particularly vulnerable group of people, we involve their personal environment (relatives, carers) in the prevention work.

Inter-association working group on prevention Bern, 25 November 2011, updated in November 2022