Save the Children Hong Kong released its research report “Children’s Views on Safety Within Organisations In Hong Kong” today. Designed and led by children, the study incorporates their perspectives to explore how they understand “safety” and the key factors for creating safe environments in tutorial centres, interest classes, and activity organisations. The findings reveal significant safeguarding gaps: half of the children surveyed do not have a trusted staff member, and nearly one-third felt their opinions were not taken seriously by organisations. This means that when children face danger or need help, they may have nowhere to turn – reflecting a failure to establish a child safeguarding culture and policies that truly safeguard children. Save the Children Hong Kong urges all child-facing organisations to establish Child Safeguarding Policy including clear policies, procedures, and a child-centred culture to address the risks and gaps identified by children, as well as to integrate children’s voices into organisational policies and daily operations and to implement robust safeguarding measures. At the same time, the organisation calls on the Government to review the Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse Ordinance (the “Ordinance”) after its implementation in early 2026, to close existing safety gaps and expand mandatory reporting obligations to all roles and professionals who work with children, ensuring no child in Hong Kong is overlooked due to gaps in coverage.
Weak Safeguarding Culture in Organisations – Calls for Child-Friendly Reporting Channels
The study surveyed 587 children aged 9 to 17, with Child Researchers involved throughout the process, including questionnaire design, analysis, and interviews. Save the Children Hong Kong notes that the findings show children lack a sense of safety in activity organisations: half do not have a trusted staff member, and nearly one-third felt their opinions were not respected by the organisations. This reflects a generally weak safeguarding culture, where children do not feel safe, respected, or heard. When feedback is ignored, children may become reluctant to express concerns. Worse still, if children face harm but do no have a trusted adult, they may have no one to turn to, hindering staff’s ability to detect suspected abuse cases.
To address this, Save the Children Hong Kong recommends that organisations establish child-friendly feedback and reporting channels, such as “worry boxes” or online forms, and clearly explain who will handle the feedback and how, ensuring children’s voices are genuinely listened to and acted upon.
Educating Children to Distinguish Between Safe and Unsafe “Secrets”
The report also reveals that 16% of children said staff promising to “keep secrets” made them feel more safe, and 57% preferred using instant messaging platforms to communicate with staff. However, these expectations may lead to privacy breaches and grooming risks, highlighting children’s misunderstanding of “safe secrets”. Save the Children Hong Kong warns that unofficial communication and overly private interactions increase risks and urges organisations to establish a clear behavioural standards (code of conduct) and boundaries for all staff interactions with children, covering both online and offline communications, and to convey these in child-friendly ways. This includes using official accounts, avoiding one-to-one messaging, and adhering to an “open door” policy. Organisations should also educate children to distinguish between safe and unsafe secrets, emphasising that reporting is an act of protection, not punishment.
62% of children believe that clear personal data protection policies would make them feel safer, underscoring the importance of transparency and children involvement. While legal consent is obtained from parents, children are often left out of the process. This lack of engagement undermines trust and fails to respect children’s right to participate in decisions affecting them. Save the Children Hong Kong recommends that organisations explain data usage in simple, child-friendly terms and obtain informed assent from children alongside parental legal consent. Parents should also familiarise themselves with safeguarding policies, including staff background checks and incident response procedures.
Children Are Co-Creators of a Safe Culture
Kalina Tsang, CEO of Save the Children Hong Kong, stated, “This research reflects the authentic voices of children. They know what makes them feel safe and bravely point out systemic gaps. One case of child abuse is one too many. The findings reveal critical safety loopholes that cannot be ignored, showing that current child safeguarding mechanisms are clearly inadequate. The Ordinance does not cover staff in activity organisations that children frequently interact with. We urge all child-facing organisations to adopt and review safeguarding policies and call on the government to conduct a comprehensive review after implementation, expanding reporting obligations to all roles and professionals who work with children, closing existing gaps, and achieving zero tolerance for child abuse.”
Professor Wong Yu-cheung, Dean of the Felizberta Lo Padilla Tong School of Social Sciences at St. Francis University, endorsed the significance of the study, “The greatest value of this research lies in its child-led approach. This participatory model allows us to genuinely listen to children’s voices and design systems that safeguard them effectively.” He added: “Child safeguarding should become part of the education system. We need to systematically integrate safeguarding awareness and skills into school and university curricula, so future educators, social workers, healthcare professionals, and even policymakers are equipped with the knowledge and responsibility to safeguard children.”
Save the Children Hong Kong will continue to promote a safeguarding culture through policy advocacy, organisational training and policy design through Child Safeguarding Services, and public education, helping all child-facing organisations implement children safeguarding policies and laying a strong foundation for the Ordinance’s successful implementation.
For the full report, please visit: https://savethechildren.click/ChildrensViewsonSafetyWithinOrganisations
