Participant and Vulnerable Group Safeguarding Policy

1. Purpose

To protect everyone who takes part in volunteering, events, blood donation or disaster solidarity through hangel from harm, abuse, exploitation and harassment, especially adults in vulnerable situations (disabled people, older people, refugees and migrants, people affected by disasters, people with health conditions, people in crisis). Rules on children are set out separately in the Child Protection Policy.

2. Scope

The hangel platform and Oda meeting rooms; the International Social Benefit Association's own activities; the Association's employees, volunteers and super-admins. For activities run by other organisations on the platform, the organising body is primarily responsible for participants' physical safety.

3. Principles

1. Do no harm. No activity may pressure a participant to give or do anything in return for help.
2. No sexual exploitation or abuse. Asking for sex, favours or any advantage in exchange for help, volunteering or services is prohibited.
3. Dignity and privacy. Photos, stories or data of people in vulnerable situations are not shared without their consent.
4. Consent. Health information and the use of identifiable images depend on separate, explicit and revocable consent.
5. Protecting those who speak up. Anyone who raises a concern is protected and their identity is not shared unnecessarily.

4. Roles and responsibilities

• Board of Directors: approves this policy; decides on serious incidents and reports to the authorities where needed.
• Super-admins: review reports and decide on content and accounts.
• Organisation administrators and event organisers: prepare safety, accessibility and emergency arrangements before an activity and report incidents.
• The Association's own volunteers: follow the code of conduct and report any concern they see.

5. How it works at hangel today

• Reporting and blocking: Posts, messages, profiles, events and volunteering listings have a "Report" option; reasons include harassment or bullying, sexual content, violence, hate, fraud and personal data. The reporter's identity is not revealed to the content owner. Person and organisation accounts can be blocked.
• Messaging limits: There is no private one-to-one messaging between users; people can write only to organisations and to the hangel team.
• Sensitive data: Blood group and health information related to volunteering are processed only with explicit consent; the emergency blood module is closed to under-18s.
• Image consent: Separate, optional consent is collected for identifiable people in event images.
• Identity check at the door (optional): If the organising body chooses, an NFC-chip identity card can be used at the event entrance to confirm that the participant is the ticket holder. Name, surname and date of birth are used only for the comparison and are not stored; only a "verified" flag is written to the record. No national ID number or photo is collected.
• Closing accounts: Super-admins can disable accounts that abuse the platform.

6. Not yet in place and our goals

• There is no named safeguarding focal point; reports are reviewed by super-admins. Our goal is to appoint one.
• We do not verify on the platform that organisations carry out a risk assessment before an activity. Our goal is to offer a safety and accessibility checklist in the event creation screen.
• Safeguarding training is not delivered regularly.
• Notifying the owner of reported content about the decision and an in-app appeal flow are not yet available (Content Moderation and Takedown Policy).

7. How to raise a concern

• In the app: "Report".
• A serious safeguarding concern or an allegation about an organisation's staff member or volunteer: kvkk@hangel.org (subject "Whistleblowing — Confidential").
• If life is in danger, call 112 first.

8. Review

At least once a year and after every serious incident.

9. Related documents

Child Protection Policy · Anti-Harassment and Bullying Policy · Event Code of Conduct · Volunteer Safety and Insurance Information · Existing "Protection from Sexual Exploitation, Abuse and Harassment (PSEAH) and Safeguarding Policy"