The Canadian Red Cross offers 10 steps to creating safer environments

Violence, bullying and abuse are major problems in a number of communities, from schools to organizations to workplaces. The Canadian Red Cross offers a number of awareness and prevention courses to help reduce violence, bullying and abuse. One program outlines ten key steps you can take to help create a safer environment. While some people may believe that they are powerless against these serious issues in their neighbourhoods, they are wrong. They can use this valuable information from the Canadian Red Cross to help themselves and others create change.

1. Understand the problem
This first step is about helping individuals fully grasp the problem of interpersonal violence around the world, the scope of which is incredibly large. For example, the Red Cross considers violence to be a "Great Humanitarian Challenge" that impacts vulnerable populations, particularly women and children. Furthermore, there are many types of violence that have different impacts on both individuals and communities, and they all stem from several factors.

2. Recognize people's vulnerability and resilience
During step two, people learn about how violence is a universal problem that impacts all demographics. However, some populations have a greater risk of experiencing violence than others, such as children and the elderly. Finally, participants learn how individuals and communities can have the ability to recover from violence, bullying and abuse.

3. Define protection instruments
Once people understand the scope of violence in the world, they need to know where they can find resources that can help. Most countries have laws that protect people from various forms of violence, particularly vulnerable groups. Furthermore, there are also international legal regulations that can help to protect people.

4. Create a protection team
Learning about violence, bullying and abuse is one thing, learning how to prevent it is another. In this step, people are taught how they can help create a team of individuals who can take action in their organizations, schools, workplaces and communities.

5. Complete a risk assessment
Before violence, bullying and abuse can be addressed, they have to be recognized. People need to understand how to conduct a mapping and assessment to determine how at risk their environments are and what sort of consequences could result. Then, they can learn about the tools they can use to prevent violence, bullying and abuse.

6. Develop policies and procedures
To incite change, proper policies need to be developed and implemented. It is the responsibility of leaders committed to ending violence, bullying and abuse to ensure that proper procedures are being followed. This means that personnel must be screened and there need to be policies regarding conduct, harassment and the protection of minors and other vulnerable people who may be working with the organization.

7. Educate adults, youth and children
Education is an important place to start creating change, which is why schools, organizations and workplaces need to learn how to implement violence, bullying and abuse prevention education programs that are taught by knowledgeable individuals.

8. Respond to disclosures of violence, bullying and abuse
When a disclosure of is made to someone, it is that individual's responsibility to respond appropriately.  In the case of a child disclosing to an adult, there are specific legal obligations. People may need some guidance on how to respond effectively and in a way that will encourage the person disclosing to continue talking, rather than getting scared and shutting down.

9. Meet the challenges
Once people recognize the problems of violence, bullying and abuse in the world and have created a team with a violence and abuse prevention plan, they need to put that team into action. There are many barriers teams will run into while attempting to reach this goal, but with determination they can learn how to overcome them.

10. Maintain safe environments
Once violence, bullying and abuse have been addressed and a place has been made safe again, the work does not end. Instead, the safety of an environment always needs to be monitored and maintained.

People who are interested in joining the cause of eradicating violence, bullying and abuse should enroll in a Canadian Red Cross course today to learn more about these ten steps and also donate to the cause.