Safeguarding

The set of policies, practices, and measures designed to protect vulnerable individuals — including people with disabilities, children, and older adults — from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Safeguarding encompasses prevention through education and training, detection of warning signs, reporting mechanisms, and response procedures. For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, safeguarding is particularly critical as they experience abuse at rates many times higher than the general population, yet reporting rates remain extremely low due to barriers including lack of awareness, communication difficulties, and systemic failures to believe and act on disclosures from disabled people.