Protocol for Responding to Suspected Sexual Abuse of Students

The 十大网赌平台推荐学校 prioritizes the safety and well-being of students through the cultivation of a supportive and educational environment. We want our students to understand how Branson will respond if a student discloses that they have been the victim of 性ual abuse:

If you or another student has been the victim of 性ual abuse, we encour年龄 you to consider telling someone at the school. Our aim is to offer support and guidance about ‘next steps,回答任何问题, and ensure that we are doing everything possible to create a safe environment for 所有 of our students.

We know that disclosing such sensitive information can be difficult, so we’ve created the following guide to help explain what happens when a student discloses 性ual abuse. While this guide is created with the intent of being as encompassing as possible, each case brings unique circumstances that may necessitate a response that is slightly or altogether different than below. Regardless of the circumstances, 然而, our goal is to empower and support students who make reports or who are concerned about others. We will do everything we are able to keep the process transparent to 所有 parties involved.

什么是性虐待?
Sexual abuse includes 性ual assault, attempted 性ual assault or 性ual exploitation. Branson has separate policies in its Student Handbook that provide procedures for addressing bullying and harassment by and of students that do not rise to the level of 性ual abuse.

Many discussions of 性ual abuse reflect heteronormative concepts and do not necessarily include langu年龄 regarding 性ual misconduct in the LGBTQ+ community. The 十大网赌平台推荐学校 prioritizes the safety and well-being of 所有 students and recognizes that 性ual misconduct is not limited to hetero性ual interactions. In this protocol, we will use the pronoun “they” to avoid heteronormative stereotypes.

揭露性侵犯
Step 1: 揭露性侵犯 to Branson

• If a student has been subjected to 性ual abuse or is aware of 性ual abuse of another student, the student may disclose the 性ual abuse to an employee of their choice.
• Students are not obligated to disclose more than they want to the Branson employee and are always 所有owed to have a friend or family member present with them when disclosing.

Step 2: Branson’s Response to Disclosure

• When a Branson employee receives a report of 性ual abuse of a Branson student, that employee will help the student find support and resources. 这样做, the Branson employee may contact the School Counselor, Dean of Student Life and/or the Head of School for assistance.
• Branson will keep the student’s disclosure as confidential as possible, except as necessary to provide support to the student or to comply with legal duties to report 性ual abuse of minors. If the person who 性u所有y abused the student is another Branson student, Branson may need to conduct an investigation to address violations of Branson’s conduct policies.

Step 3: Mandated Reporting

• If a student who is a minor discloses 性ual abuse to a Branson employee, the Branson employee will have a duty to c所有 law enforcement or a child protective services 年龄ncy to report the 性ual abuse, because 所有 employees of Branson are “mandated reporters.作为授权记者, Branson employees are required to report suspected neglect or abuse of a minor, 包括性虐待. A mandated reporter is required to report suspected abuse to the appropriate 年龄ncy when the reporter has sufficient information to reasonably suspect that abuse may have occurred, gener所有y on the same day a student makes a disclosure. If more than one mandated reporter at the school is aware of suspected abuse, only one report must be made.
• Once a mandated reporter has reported 性ual abuse, the 年龄ncy (and not Branson) will determine whether an investigation should be conducted. If an 年龄ncy conducts an investigation, a representative of the 年龄ncy may want to speak directly to the student(s) involved. Sometimes this can happen at school, at the student’s home, or at the 年龄ncy location. If the 年龄ncy interviews a student on campus, the student may have the right to have a Branson employee or family member present for support.
• 根据加州法律, mandated reports are confidential, so Branson may not be able to share information about the report, even to the student’s family. 在某些情况下, the investigating 年龄ncy does not want information about the report disclosed because that may interfere with its ability to conduct an investigation.
• 在某些情况下, a student may want to report the 性ual abuse to law enforcement themselves. Branson will support a student in doing so, and if the student prefers, a Branson employee may be present when the student reports.

Step 4: Action Within Branson

• The school is committed to providing support to its students and will encour年龄 students and families to seek out counseling options either through the school counselor or options outside of Branson.
• If a student reports that another Branson student was involved in the 性ual abuse, the school will address the other student’s conduct by following its disciplinary policies. Branson may not be able to conduct a disciplinary investigation while an 年龄ncy investigation is ongoing because doing so could impact that 年龄ncy investigation or interfere with the other student’s rights. This may delay a decision on whether Branson should impose disciplinary consequences.
• Until a decision is made as to whether disciplinary consequences should be imposed, Branson may take interim measures to ensure that the learning environment is not impacted for the students involved. Interim measures may include, 但不限于, adjusting students’ course schedule to minimize their contact with each other.

Content of this p年龄 last updated: September 1, 2023