Teach Her, Don’t Touch Her · A national campaign by Aya Institute for Women, Politics and Media

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Take action

Choose the action that matches your power.

No one person has to fix an unsafe system alone. Start with the role you hold, the authority you have and the safety of the people most affected.

Choose your role

Show the actions most relevant to you

Showing actions for every role.

Students & peers

Make support easier to reach

  • Save verified support numbers somewhere private.
  • Ask before sharing someone else’s story or name.
  • Offer to accompany a friend to a trusted service.
  • Use a lower-risk bystander action: distract, delegate, document safely or check in later.

Educators & staff

Model professional boundaries

  • Keep communications on approved channels.
  • Know who receives a safeguarding concern.
  • Respond to disclosure with calm, belief and clear next steps.
  • Record only what is needed, using the person’s own words where possible.

Leaders & boards

Build a system people can trust

  • Name an accountable safeguarding lead and alternate.
  • Offer routes outside the direct chain of command.
  • Audit retaliation, conflicts of interest and response delays.
  • Require official criminal-record checks for every position of trust involving children or young people, and controlled register checks when legally available.
  • Budget for training, specialist referral and independent review.

Families & community allies

Listen without taking control

  • Say: “I’m glad you told me. This is not your fault.”
  • Ask about immediate safety before asking for detail.
  • Explain any safeguarding duty you must follow.
  • Support lawful vetting and accountable register reform—never create, circulate or rely on unofficial naming lists.
  • Support the person’s choices wherever safely possible.

A clear record is not a guarantee of safety.

Vetting can identify recorded convictions and other lawfully available information, but it cannot replace professional boundaries, supervision, accessible reporting and action on emerging concerns.

A 30-day institutional start

Move from statement to structure.

This is a starting sequence, not a full safeguarding audit.

1

Days 1–7: map risk

Identify existing policies, reporting routes, decision-makers, service referrals and points where power is concentrated.

2

Days 8–14: listen safely

Use anonymous or facilitated feedback that does not require survivors to disclose personal experiences.

3

Days 15–21: close urgent gaps

Clarify who responds, how urgent safety is handled and how conflicts of interest are escalated.

4

Days 22–30: publish the route

Make the process visible in plain language, then test whether students and staff can find and explain it.

Portable action kit

Print the core checklist or save it as a PDF.

This website includes a print-ready action kit that works without an internet connection.

Open the action kit