Sister Agreement

Sister Agreement
(As of August 7, 2020)

 As a Sister, I agree to protect confidentiality of others by:

  • Keeping all information about Hagar’s Sisters confidential from my controlling partner including my involvement with a domestic abuse organization, and the organization’s name and all information, office location, meeting details and Zoom links, and volunteer and staff names.
  • Allowing Hagar’s Sisters to contact me via an email address and/or phone number I have provided as “secure.”  I confirm that my controlling partner does not have access to the communication methods I have provided and that these contact methods are protected by passwords that are unknown to my controlling partner.
  • Keeping confidential all information about another Sister, Facilitator, Co-Facilitator and/or Teacher’s involvement with Hagar’s Sisters and their stories, unless mutual consent is established. If I encounter someone from Hagar’s Sisters in a public setting, I will not disclose their relationship with Hagar’s Sisters to anyone else present.
  • Notifying the Hagar’s Sisters office immediately if my controlling partner gains access to any information about the Hagar’s Sisters organization or those who are involved.


As a Sister, I agree to keep take my safety seriously by:

  • Participating in meetings from an environment where I am completely safe from physical, visual, audible and technical access by my controlling partner, and from others who could potentially reveal my involvement to my controlling partner. This is to protect myself and others in the group and the organization.
  • Not participating in meetings under circumstances where my safety and privacy is not guaranteed, such as, but not limited to: if my controlling partner is at home, is in the exterior area of the property, or is in proximity such as a neighbor’s house.
  • Learning and applying online and digital safety techniques as related to Hagar’s Sisters including, but not limited to, erasing my browser history, not saving passwords, etc. These techniques will be explained.


As a Sister, I am committing to:

  • Attend every meeting scheduled both with Care Coordinators and the support group courses for which I am registered, except for unforeseen or unavoidable circumstances.
  • Arrive at support group course meetings up to 15 minutes prior to the indicated start time to greet others and be fully prepared for an on-time start.
  • Respect Hagar’s Sisters’ rule of No Late Admittance to support group once the meeting has started.
  • Contact my Support Group Facilitator if I am unable to attend support group, specifying the reason for my absence
  • Notify my Support Group Facilitator and a Care Coordinator of changes in my situation related to safety and work with a Care Coordinator to update my safety plan accordingly.


As a Sister, to ensure mutual and healthy relationships in Support Group Courses, I agree to:

  • Participate both by listening without giving advice and by sharing my thoughts and feelings about my own circumstances with my group members.
  • Provide my full attention for the entire duration of a support group meeting (i.e., no cell phones, no surfing the internet, in a place with no distractions and no possibility of interruptions, etc.)
  • Not distract others during Support Group meetings by any activities unrelated to support group (i.e., I will not care for my children or pets, I will not leave the room, I will mute my microphone to prevent noise in my environment from distracting others, etc.)


As a Sister, I acknowledge:

  • Hagar’s Sisters staff, Care Coordinators, Support Group Teachers, Facilitators and Co-Facilitators do not serve as professional counselors in this ministry. Hagar’s Sisters recommends that I work with an individual counselor (not a marriage counselor) in addition to participating in their programs.
  • Hagar’s Sisters provides support services for women who have experienced intimate partner abuse, regardless of race, religion, color, sexual identity, ethnicity, class, physical/mental ability or age. Hagar’s Sisters requires respectful interaction and communication at all times. Any use of prejudicial words or actions will not be tolerated and may result in removal from the program.


As a Sister, I agree not to hold Hagar’s Sisters liable for any damage occurring from the instances that follow.  The list is representative and not meant to be totally inclusive.

  • Another group member breaking confidentiality
  • An abusive partner breaking through Hagar’s Sisters data security to gain access to confidential information
  • The abuse of a minor or elderly person in physical danger being reported to the Department of Family Services
  • A security breach beyond Hagar’s Sisters’ reasonable expectation and control, whether by an employee, volunteer, contractor or third-party vendor who provides digital services and manages my data and personal information
    • Hagar’s Sisters staff, volunteers and contracted vendors comply with stringent data security regulations, but I recognize that as with any digital activity, there is an inherent risk of data security breaches.
  • Hagar’s Sisters can prevent me from accessing the Sister Portal along with any information stored in the portal for any reason at any time.
  • NOTE: Any communications I disclose concerning a crime being committed by me or others may not be considered confidential in a court of law if a criminal action results.

 

I have read the agreements outlined above and I agree to abide by all terms outlined above, by virtue of logging in to the Sister Portal.