Stay Safe Guidenotes

Jamaican Women’s Network is a membership network that aims to promote and enable friendships and volunteering to enhance communities across the diaspora and in Jamaica.  Although we are a responsible organisation, we cannot take responsibility for your personal safety.

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JWN Can’t do it all but

We promote best practice to encourage our members to take reasonable precautions to stay safe and minimise risk.
 
We do aim to:
•    Promote safety tips to all members to raise their awareness about possible risks 
•    Promote polite and friendly interactions and our website 
•    Encourage lively debate but ask that members respect other people’s views, lifestyles and personal attributes
•    Monitor to prevent and respond promptly to try to prevent unnecessary spamming or any type of commercial activity that is not pre-authorised in writing by the Jamaican Women’s Network
•    Monitor to prevent and respond promptly to try to prevent any harassing or threatening behaviour by members
•    Work hard to keep your data safe and respect your privacy

 

Jamaican Women’s Network have a zero-tolerance policy on abusive or inappropriate use of our platform. Any member found to be acting in an inappropriate or abusive manner is permanently suspended without warning.

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Stay Safe Safety Tips

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1.    Do not unnecessarily disclose personal data including date of birth, address or bank details to a stranger without properly verifying the identity of the other party.

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2.    When meeting for the first time we strongly recommend that both parties meet in a safe public place such as a coffee shop. Always tell someone else when and where you are going to meet. 

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3.    Do not invite a stranger to your home without conducting proper safety checks including:

a.    Asking for photo identification in advance e.g. passport, driving license
b.    Asking for referees so that you can check them out with a third party, e.g. their present and past employers
c.    Asking for official security checks e.g. DBS check in the UK. please find out about relevant equivalent checks locally. Ask to see this document and contact the relevant authorities e.g. previous employers for verification.

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4.    Jamaican Women’s Network does not advise leaving children or vulnerable adults unsupervised with strangers.  In addition, even with supervision, please be careful to ensure that ALL safety checks are done BEFORE allowing ANY contact with children or vulnerable adults with other members

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5.    Do not got go to meet a stranger at home or abroad without conducting extensive checks to ensure your own safety. If it is a volunteering opportunity is available through and organisation check that the contact is known by them and authorised to deal with you on their behalf. Ask for photo id from them to ensure that you are dealing with the same person. Ask the person to speak to you on Skype or a mobile phone video call to satisfy yourself that this is the same person before travelling. 

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6.    Ensure that you have notified the other party of your emergency contacts details in advance of travelling and ensure that your emergency contacts have the full details of where and when you will be travelling to and full details of who you will be meeting.

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7.    Ensure you have access to emergency funds that can be accessed if you have lost cards or cash.  It is best if you do not keep this emergency stash with you but can access it securely online or by calling your emergency contact.

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8.    Find and keep more than one copy (with your wallet, in your phone, where you are staying and working) of emergency telephone numbers of relevant consulates, embassies and emergency services 

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9.    Do not transfer funds for charitable, emergency or any purposes unless you:

a.    Have a legitimate reason for doing so e.g. to book a hotel or other travel expenses
b.    Know and can verify the details of the recipient to ensure that this is not a scam. Even then this is not advisable unless you also do the following:

i.    Use a reputable donation website like Just Giving or a charity’s website that is a registered charity
ii.    Have checked with an official third party like your bank or credit card provider for advice

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10.    Be very wary of accepting payments from anyone offering to send you money without a legitimate reason. A common online scam involves fraudsters sending payments and then claiming it was an accident and asking you to send the money back.  They then use your details to buy other goods.

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11.    Use our 'Report' button which has been provided to allow members to easily and immediately report a profile to our safety team if they have any concerns or worries. Our safety team work 365 days a year to monitor our platform and investigate any concerns.