Safe Sport Connect Community Policy

Our commitment

Safe Sport International (SSI) is committed to the safeguarding of all people engaged with SSI through our work and takes a zero-tolerance approach to any form of harassment and/or abuse.

Safe Sport Connect (SSC) is SSI’s year-round digital community for safeguarding professionals, leaders, researchers and others working to protect children and adults in sport. It provides a space to connect, share knowledge and experience, participate in professional discussion and learning, and strengthen safeguarding practice internationally.

This Community Policy supports the SSI Code of Conduct and applies those expectations to participation within Safe Sport Connect.

SSC is intended to be a respectful, inclusive and safe professional community in which people can exchange views, ask questions, challenge practice and learn from one another.

All members share responsibility for helping to maintain that environment.

Scope

This Community Policy applies to all people participating in Safe Sport Connect in any capacity.

This includes, but is not limited to:

• SSC members and subscribers;
• SSI trustees, staff, associates, consultants and volunteers;
• speakers, facilitators and experts;
• members of working groups and committees;
• researchers and academics;
• athletes and people with lived experience;
• representatives of sporting organisations and partner organisations;
• guests and event participants.

It applies to participation across SSC, including posts, comments, direct messages, groups, webinars, meetings, roundtables, online events and other interactions facilitated through the community.

The SSI Code of Conduct continues to apply to all persons involved in SSI activities. Any safeguarding concern or potential breach of the Code of Conduct will be responded to in line with the SSI Safeguarding Policy and Procedures.

Responsibilities

All people participating in Safe Sport Connect must demonstrate behaviour consistent with the belief that all human beings have equal dignity and fundamental rights, recognising also that children have specific rights and protections.

Members should contribute to SSC in a way that supports safe, respectful and equitable participation.

SSI’s wider Safe Sport Principles recognise that safe sport is everyone’s responsibility and that safeguarding should apply across all areas and environments of sport, including online environments.

When participating in Safe Sport Connect, I will:

• Show respect to all children and adults and not discriminate against, harass, bully, abuse, exploit or infringe the rights of others.
• Use appropriate language and behaviour that is not abusive, harassing, sexual, provocative, threatening, intimidating or demeaning.
• Treat other members with dignity and respect, including when I disagree with their views, experience, research or professional practice.
• Contribute to professional discussion in good faith and allow others to participate without intimidation or unnecessary hostility.
• Be respectful of the different cultures, contexts, experiences and perspectives represented within an international community.
• Be particularly mindful of power differences, vulnerability and the experiences of children, athletes, survivors and others who may have experienced harm.
• Respect the privacy and confidentiality of other members.
• Take care when discussing safeguarding cases or incidents and avoid sharing information that could unnecessarily identify a child, adult at risk, survivor, person reporting a concern or other person involved in a safeguarding process.
• Seek appropriate permission before sharing another person’s images, recordings, personal information or contribution outside the context in which it was originally shared.
• Respect any confidentiality arrangements applying to an SSC group, webinar, meeting or discussion.
• Report any incident or concern that is, or may be, a breach of the SSI Code of Conduct, SSI Safeguarding Policy and Procedures, or this Community Policy.
• Cooperate with any safeguarding response or investigation carried out by, or on behalf of, SSI.
• Respect the decisions of moderators, facilitators and SSI representatives acting to maintain the safety and appropriate functioning of the community.

When participating in Safe Sport Connect, I will not:

• Discriminate against, harass, bully, abuse, exploit, threaten or intimidate another person.
• Behave in a way that causes an actual or potential risk of harm to another person or to myself.
• Physically, sexually, emotionally or otherwise harm, or threaten to harm, a child or adult.
• Be complicit in, encourage, conceal or assist behaviour that breaches the SSI Code of Conduct, SSI Safeguarding Policy and Procedures, or this Community Policy.
• Use SSC to make inappropriate sexual approaches, engage in grooming behaviour or exploit another person.
• Engage in any sexual activity with anyone under the age of 18, regardless of the age of consent, in accordance with the SSI Code of Conduct.
• Engage in a sexual relationship with a person from a vulnerable community or a person experiencing vulnerability where that relationship has arisen because of my role with SSI.
• Use direct messages, comments or other SSC communication tools to repeatedly contact someone who has made clear that the contact is unwanted.
• Share abusive, discriminatory, threatening, sexually exploitative or otherwise harmful content.
• Use computers, mobile phones, cameras or other electronic devices inappropriately, including to access, create, distribute or share sexual abuse material involving children or adults at risk. This reflects the existing SSI Code of Conduct.
• Publish another person’s private contact information or identifying information in a way that could expose them to harm or harassment.
• Share confidential safeguarding information, case material or personal disclosures unless there is an appropriate and legitimate reason to do so.
• Pressure another person to disclose lived experience, safeguarding concerns or other personal information.
• Publicly investigate, interrogate or seek to determine the truth of an allegation against an identifiable individual through SSC.
• Record an SSC meeting, webinar or private discussion without appropriate permission.
• Misrepresent my identity, professional qualifications, role, experience or relationship with SSI.
• Suggest that membership of SSC represents endorsement, accreditation or approval by SSI unless this has expressly been provided.
• Use SSC primarily to send unsolicited commercial messages, repeatedly promote products or services, or obtain members’ personal information for marketing without permission.
• Take adverse action against, intimidate or retaliate against anyone who raises a safeguarding concern, reports a potential breach or participates in an SSI safeguarding process.

Professional discussion and respectful challenge

Safe Sport Connect exists to enable learning, exchange and discussion.

Members are not expected to agree with one another.

Professional challenge is welcome, including discussion of safeguarding systems, organisational practice, research, policy, leadership, culture and accountability.

Disagreement should focus on the issue being discussed rather than becoming a personal attack on another member.

Respectful challenge is part of a healthy community. Harassment, intimidation, bullying or abuse are not.

Safeguarding and lived experience

Athlete, survivor and lived-experience voices are important to SSI’s approach to safe sport.

SSI’s work recognises the importance of listening to people most affected by harm and involving them meaningfully in safeguarding systems and practice. The SSI 2025 Global Safe Sport Conference similarly emphasised trauma-informed engagement, ethical storytelling and the importance of embedding athlete and affected-person voices in policy and practice.

Within SSC:

• nobody is required to disclose personal experience;
• members should not pressure another person to share more than they choose to;
• personal disclosures should be treated sensitively and respectfully;
• lived experience shared in one context should not be reproduced elsewhere without appropriate permission;
• members should avoid seeking detailed information about a disclosure through an open community discussion.

Where information shared within SSC raises a safeguarding concern, SSI may need to respond in accordance with its Safeguarding Policy and Procedures.

Confidentiality and case discussion

Safe Sport Connect is a professional community and members may wish to discuss safeguarding challenges and practice.

However, SSC should not be used to share confidential or identifying case information in an open forum.

Where discussing practice arising from a real situation, members should remove unnecessary identifying information and consider whether sharing the information is appropriate.

Members should not assume that information posted within an online community can be guaranteed to remain confidential.

Specific SSC groups, supervision sessions, events or meetings may have additional confidentiality requirements. Members participating in those activities must follow any arrangements communicated by the facilitator or SSI.

Online safety

SSI recognises online harm as an important safeguarding issue.

SSI’s work on online abuse highlights risks including abusive comments, discriminatory abuse, threats, stalking, doxxing, image-based violations and coordinated attacks, and emphasises that online safety should form part of wider safeguarding arrangements rather than being treated separately.

These behaviours are not acceptable within Safe Sport Connect.

Members experiencing inappropriate or harmful behaviour within SSC should report the concern rather than feeling that they must manage it alone.

Children and adults at risk

Safe Sport Connect is primarily a professional community.

Where children, young people or adults at risk participate in an SSI activity delivered through SSC, any additional safeguarding arrangements applying to that activity must be followed.

Members must not use SSC participation to seek inappropriate access to a child or adult at risk.

The SSI Code of Conduct requirement concerning appropriate behaviour towards children and vulnerable adults applies fully within SSC.

Images and recordings

Members should not photograph, film or record another person through an SSI activity unless this is appropriate to the activity and relevant permission has been obtained.

This reflects the existing SSI Code of Conduct, which requires SSI approval and the appropriate consent where photography, filming or audio recording takes place in the course of SSI activity.

Recordings of SSC webinars or events made by SSI remain subject to any arrangements communicated to participants.

Reporting a concern

Members are encouraged to report any behaviour that may breach this Community Policy, the SSI Code of Conduct or SSI safeguarding requirements.

Members do not need to challenge the person themselves before raising a concern.

Where possible, reports should include sufficient information to help SSI understand what has happened, such as:

• what occurred;
• when and where it occurred;
• who was involved;
• any relevant post, message or other information.

A safeguarding concern should be raised through SSI’s established safeguarding reporting arrangements.

Where someone is in immediate danger, the appropriate emergency or statutory services should be contacted.

Safe Sport Connect should not be relied upon as an emergency response service.

Responding to concerns and breaches

Any safeguarding concern or potential breach of the SSI Code of Conduct will be responded to in accordance with the SSI Safeguarding Policy and Procedures.

Where appropriate to protect members or the community while a concern is being considered, SSI may take proportionate action within Safe Sport Connect.

This may include:

• removing or restricting content;
• closing comments or discussions;
• contacting a member about their conduct;
• restricting access to a group, event or community function;
• temporarily suspending access to SSC;
• terminating membership or access where appropriate.

The action taken will depend on the nature and seriousness of the concern and any safeguarding risks involved.

Where necessary, SSI may also refer a concern to an appropriate organisation, safeguarding body, statutory authority or law-enforcement agency in accordance with its safeguarding procedures and applicable law.

Community moderation

SSC moderators and SSI representatives may intervene where content or conduct is inconsistent with the purpose of the community or this policy.

Moderation should support the safe and constructive operation of the community and does not replace SSI safeguarding procedures.

Members are expected to cooperate with reasonable moderation decisions.

Relationship with SSI policies

This Community Policy should be read alongside the:

• SSI Code of Conduct
• SSI Safeguarding Policy and Procedures
• any specific safeguarding plan applying to an SSI event or activity
• relevant SSI privacy and data-protection arrangements
• Safe Sport Connect membership terms and platform requirements.

Where an SSI safeguarding policy or specific event safeguarding requirement places additional requirements on participants, those requirements also apply.

Policy review

This Community Policy will be reviewed regularly by Safe Sport International and updated where required to reflect safeguarding learning, changes to Safe Sport Connect and relevant developments in SSI policy and practice.

Safe Sport Connect: our shared commitment

Safe Sport Connect brings together people from different countries, roles, sporting environments and professional backgrounds.

That diversity is central to the value of the community.

By participating, each of us has a responsibility to help create an environment in which people can contribute, learn, ask questions and challenge practice safely and respectfully.

Everyone, everywhere, safe in sport.