Christchurch’s GLBTI youth support group has asked Canterbury Youth Workers’ Collective to step in and examine its policies and procedures, to ensure they provide the best levels of confidentiality and protection for young people. QTopia spokesman Neil Hellewell says the move follows two incidents involving members of QTopia’s board. In one case, Paul Findlay has stepped down voluntarily after an explicit picture-inclusive conversation via a hook up app, with someone who clearly stated they were 15-years-old, was posted online. Hellewell does not expect 27-year-old Findlay to return to the board. In the other incident a board member has stepped down at his own initiative to focus on legal action he is taking against people who have been making a series of accusations about his behaviour. “The member concerned completely denies the accusations but needs time to sort this incident out. We support his decision.” Hellewell says the board has no evidence of any inappropriate behaviour or risk from the two members toward the youth members of Qtopia. “We believe that the timing of these two different cases is coincidental and not an indication of a symptomatic problem at QTopia. “However, we need to ensure our processes are robust, ethical, transparent and accountable, which is why we have asked the Youth Workers Collective to look at how we manage things like this.” Hellewell says he has no indication at this stage as to how long that inquiry might take.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Tuesday, 8th October 2013 - 7:42am