Report an allegation or concern

Important information to know before reporting an allegation or concern to the ISC

Before reporting an allegation or concern surrounding suspected child safeguarding failures, child abuse, economic misconduct, fraud or other wrongdoing arising from the work of SOS Children's Villages and/or any of its Member Associations, it is important that you take a moment to read and understand the parameters of your interaction with the ISC.

The following information applies to (i) people who made an allegation or shared a concern, (ii) people who spoke with investigators (iii) people about whom was spoken with the investigators.

Please also refer to the further information on data processing pursuant to Article 13 GDPR in the Privacy Policy.

All investigations by the ISC are confidential, and the identities of survivors, witnesses, whistleblowers and those alleged to be involved in wrongdoing will be protected to the strictest standards and legal obligations. However, confidentiality can never be absolute based on the progression and requirements of the investigation including the need for information to be corroborated.

You should understand that although the ISC is independent and impartial in its work, the ISC’s primary purposes, as mandated by the International Senate, are to:

1. investigate;
2. report its findings; and 
3. make recommendations.

Subject to your informed consent (Art 6 (1)(a) GDPR), information provided will be used to support the work of the ISC and may be used in its final report to the International Senate. If we have received your data not from you directly, but from people who have reported incidents, we share your data with the Senate on the basis of our legitimate interests (Art 6 (1)(f) GDPR), which are to clarify the respective reported incident.
 

The ISC may want to publish an anonymous summary of, or refer to your experience, within the reporting of the ISC. Although you can remain anonymous, the ISC and its investigators may need to contact you for additional information or clarifications in assessing the allegation(s) you reported.  
 

In addition, when anonymous information is provided, the ISC’s investigators will need to identify corroborative evidence before a formal investigation commences or a finding can be made.
 

Please be assured that the ISC will never publish any personal details about you and the information provided to the ISC will remain confidential and can only be used for the purpose of the ISC's mandate with each individual’s informed consent. What this means will be explained to you by the Responsible Investigator. Data will only be processed without your consent, but on the basis of our legitimate interests, if we have received data from you from people who have shared your data as part of their reporting.

The ISC has established an independent and secure system to enable secure transmittal of documents and other attachments, hosted by BKMS. 

You can also submit a report to the ISC by email at report@IndependentSC.org. If you contact us by email, you agree that the information you provide in your email to the ISC can be used for the purpose of fulfilling its mandate.

Information that would be helpful to the ISC team when making a report and may be processed by ISC and shared with the Senate:

• To assist the review and assessment of the information you choose to provide by the designated responsible investigator at the ISC, the ISC requests that you provide as detailed of an account as you can of the alleged wrongdoing, including child safeguarding failures, child abuse, economic misconduct, fraud or other wrongdoing. For example, please include the following details to the extent that you are able to:
• WHAT: The nature of the alleged wrongdoing including what happened and how it was done;
• WHO: The persons involved in the alleged wrongdoing and their connection to SOS Children’s Village, if known;
• WHERE: The location where the alleged wrongdoing occurred; 
• WHEN: The time or period of time when the alleged wrongdoing occurred; 
• HOW: The basis of how you know about the alleged wrongdoing that leads you to make this reporting, for example, did you experience something, did you witness something happen, did someone else tell you, did you see or do you have a document that reveals wrongdoing.
   

What the ISC will do:

• The ISC will provide an immediate response confirming receipt of your email and a substantive reply within 1 to 5 working days, depending on the nature and complexity of the information provided;
• You may be asked for further information or documentation if you have it;
• The information you choose to provide will be reviewed and assessed by the designated responsible investigator, who will make an initial assessment and recommend the most suitable course of action;
• That initial assessment and recommendation will be submitted to the ISC Commissioners for review;
• The ISC Commissioners will make a determination about the case and course of action;
• The ISC will seek your informed consent before using your information for its report and other related purposes;
• The ISC will not use your name or identifying information in its report or for any other purpose without your informed consent.