Visitor Protection Policy
The organisers of AnimeCon believe that is always unacceptable for a young person to experience abuse of any kind and recognizes its responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all young people, by a commitment to practice which protects them.
We recognise that:
- The welfare of the child/young person is paramount
- All young people, regardless of age, disability, gender, racial heritage, religious belief, sexual orientation or identity, have the right to equal protection from all types of harm or abuse.
- Working in partnership with young people, their parents, carers and other agencies is essential in promoting young people’s welfare.
The purpose of this policy is:
- To provide protection for young people who attend AnimeCon, including the children of adult members.
- To provide staff and volunteers with guidance on procedures they should adopt if they suspect a young person may be experiencing, or may be at risk of, harm.
- This policy applies to all staff, including Directors, paid staff, volunteers and anyone working on behalf of the show or The OakhamGroup Ltd.
We will seek to safeguard young people by:
- Valuing them, listening to and respecting them.
- Adopting protection guidelines through procedures and a code of behavior for staff and volunteers.
- Sharing information about protection and good practice with young people, parents, staff and volunteers.
- Sharing information and concerns with agencies who need to know and involving parents and children appropriately.
- Providing effective management for staff and volunteers through supervision, support and training
- We are also committed to reviewing our policy and good practice annually.
UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR:
Everyone who attends or participates in Oakham Group events deserves to be treated with respect, respect and decency. This includes but is not limited to unacceptable behaviours such as: intimidating, harassing, abusive, discriminatory, derogatory or demeaning conduct by any attendee/speaker/partner/exhibitor or event-related activities.
Oakham Group will not tolerate any form of abusive verbal comments in relation to gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, national origin, gender identity or disability; public use of nudity and/or sexual images (in presentation slides); deliberate intimidation; stalking or unwelcome following; harassing photography or recording; sustained disruption of talks or other events; unwelcome physical contact or attention.
Many attendees mix business with pleasure and all of AnimeCon encourages this sort of networking the public and private strengthening of ties between participants, but AnimeCon reserves the right to eject any attendee who appears drunk, is behaving in a manner that obstructs other attendees and/or exhibitors from attending and enjoying the event or whose social attentions are unwanted towards members of staff, fellow attendees, exhibitors or anyone else connected with the event.
The unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated at the events either from attendees, media, speakers, volunteers, sponsors, exhibitors or any one closely associated with the event. It is expected that anyone who is asked to cease unacceptable behaviour will do so immediately.
AnimeCon reserves the absolute and sole right to eject and deny entry, for breaching this Code of Conduct, from all or part of any event with no refund of fees paid, and to disallow attendance at future Oakham events without giving a reason.
The code is general and cannot be comprehensive about types of unacceptable behaviour. AnimeCon may take corrective action to non-specific examples not covered in these Terms of Service. The Operating Guidelines may be changed at any time and for whatever rationale.
HARASSMENT AT ANIMECON
AnimeCon is committed to creating a environment that gives attendees the assurance of having a safe, fun and welcoming experience, at its very heart harassment is the very antithesis of the community we are aiming for. If you are being harassed, noticed that someone is harassing somebody else, or have any other concerns related to the safety of participants, please contact a member our security team immediately. AnimeCon does not accept any form of harassment, and for your own safety we want you to report problems concerning your harassment to us before anyone else. There are Information desks near registration if you cannot find a Staff, Crew, or Security to assist you. Contact us before acting on your own (going to the bully or posting something about them on social media). We have professional security and they are fully prepared for these contingencies.
The Voyeurism Act was passed in 2019. Upskirting now carries up to 2 years in prison. We will contact the police should anyone be found upskirting in any Oakham Group event.
Code of behaviour for adults working
This outlines the behaviour expected of staff and the volunteers who engage with children and young people at the event exhibition and its activities.
Purpose:
This code has been developed to provide advice which will not only help to protect children but will also help identify any practices which could be mistakenly interpreted and perhaps lead to false allegations of abuse being made against individuals.
Following this good practice guide will also help to protect the show by reducing the possibility of anyone using their role within the organisation to gain access to children to abuse them.
When working with children and young people for the show all staff and volunteers are acting in a position of trust. It is therefore important that staff and volunteers are aware that they may be seen as role models by children and must always act in an appropriate manner and follow the code of behaviour.
All members of staff and volunteers are expected to report any breaches of this code to a senior director of The Oakham Group Ltd.
Any breach of this code involving a member of staff or volunteer may result in them being asked to leave the event immediately. Serious breaches of this code may also result in a referral being made to a statutory agency such as the police or Children’s Services Department.
When working with children and young people it is important to:
- Always follow the organisers child protection policy
- Always listen and respect children and young people.
- Always avoid favoritism
- Treat children and young people fairly and without prejudice
- Value and take children’s contributions seriously
- Always ensure equipment is used appropriately and for the purpose it was designed for
- Follow the ICT safety policy and report any breaches
- Provide examples of good conduct you wish others to follow
- Challenge unacceptable behavior and report all allegations/suspicions of abuse