Wednesday 1July 2009
Our guest speaker was Rotarian Frank Portelli. Frank who is the Chairman of District 9690 Child Protection/Harassment Awareness Committee and as such is the District 9690 Child Protection Officer was introduced by Niall King.
The object of the District Child protection Officer is to bring to the attention of all Rotarians in our district what is the definition of Child Abuse and Sexual Harassment. This awareness is done on a District basis although the policy directive is an integral part of Rotary International’s goals and objectives of creating an environment where all members and participants in Rotary associated activities have the right to be treated fairly and with respect as well as to participate in a safe and harmonious environment.
What is sexual harassment - sexual harassment is any unwanted, unreciprocated, and unsolicited sexual advance or conduct of sexual nature which makes a person feel offended, humiliated or intimidated. It can take many forms and can include physical contact, verbal comments, jokes, propositions, display of offensive materials and any other behaviour which creates a sexually or emotionally hostile environment. It may be intentional or unintentional and can be a single incident or a series of incidents.
Examples of sexual harassment can be uninvited or unwanted physical contact such as touching, kissing, patting or even brushing up against a person. It can be sexually oriented jokes or comments. It can be displays of pornographic or sexually oriented material, obscene telephone calls or e mails or persistent unwelcome social invitations.
All Rotarians who have any involvement with youth in any Rotary project are asked to sign a ‘Prohibited Employment Declaration’. Any member who for any reason declines to complete this declaration is not permitted to be in a one on one situation with any youth under the age of eighteen in any youth project such as Youth Exchange, RYLA, MUNA or RYPEN.
Our club Child Protection Officer is Peter Van der Sleesen.
After many questions from members Frank was thanked by Kevin Beltrame.
I acknowledge the District 9690 website (click) for some of the contents of this report