Safeguarding Principles

Safeguarding in detention is challenging on many levels. Detention is inherently unsafe and therefore has the potential to make anyone who comes into contact with it vulnerable. This is compounded by the fact, as has been described in this chapter, safeguarding mechanisms in detention are flawed and often fail to protect the person at risk of harm. It is important for visitors to have a good sense of your group's safeguarding policies and to discuss shared concerns with fellow visitors, your group co-ordinator and/or with AVID.

In general, when trying to decide what to do is response to someone you are particularly worried about, it can be useful to follow the “4 Rs'' of safeguarding (these are taken from training with AVID members from Safer Foundations - a specialist safeguarding organisation working in the refugee and migrant sector):

Action	Guiding Questions
Recognise	What is going on? What are the risk factors? What are the protective factors?
Respond	Is there a risk of immediate harm? What does the person in detention want to happen? What action is needed and by who?
Report	Who do I need to tell? How will I keep the person involved informed?
Record	Where should I log this and how quickly? When will I return to it?

Extract from AVIDs Safeguarding Policy Statement

Our Commitments:

• AVID acknowledges that those subject to immigration control are placed in circumstances and situations that are inherently unsafe. We are bold in our approach and will strive to consider all relevant factors in deciding on when and how to act, including the precariousness of someone’s position in detention, how safe they feel if a disclosure is made, and consideration of what the resulting steps will be.

• AVID will ensure that any decisions made to act will, where possible, be made in conjunction with the individual concerned and will prioritise the individual’s own choices unless there is a risk of significant, immediate harm to self or others. We will look at cases on an individual basis, allowing the individual autonomy in choice while acknowledging that this has to be balanced with the presenting level of risk.

• Whilst AVID acknowledges the flawed nature of safeguards in detention, AVID engages proactively with these safeguarding mechanisms in order to mitigate risk of harm and advocate for accountability in the system and the rights of people detained.

• AVID will strive to represent the lived reality of the experiences of people in detention where the decision is made to report to the relevant statutory authorities and partners.

• AVID will put the wellbeing, safety, confidentiality, dignity and consent of the person at risk before any external priority such as campaigning or evidence collection.

Resource Tip

If you are an AVID member, sign into our training space to watch this training video on Safeguarding for visitor groups with Safer Foundations: https://www.aviddetention.org.uk/article/training-approaching-safeguarding-for-visitor-groups.

Visit Trauma Treatment International’s Resource Hub for more information on what it means to be trauma-informed in your approach and to better understand trauma.