Child Safety Standards
Sawa Living
Last updated: 8 October 2026
These Child Safety Standards apply to Sawa Living, operated by Sawa Technologies Private Limited (“Sawa”, “we”, “us”, “our”), the app available on Google Play and the Apple App Store, and to every service, website and communication connected to it. They form part of our Terms & Conditions and Community Guidelines, and they apply to everyone who uses Sawa.
Sawa is a private social network for adult couples. It is not a service for children and it is not a dating app. Many of the couples on Sawa are parents, and the safety of children, theirs and everyone else’s, is not something we weigh against anything else.
1. Our position
Sawa has zero tolerance for child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) and for child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Such content and conduct are strictly prohibited on Sawa, in every part of the app: profiles, photos, chats, voice notes, group circles, events, notes and anything said to Sawa AI.
When we find it or are told about it, we remove it, we permanently remove the people responsible, we keep the evidence safe, and we report it to the police and the authorities that the law names. We do not make exceptions, and we do not issue warnings first.
In these standards:
A child is any person under the age of 18, as defined in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
Child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE) means any content or conduct that sexually exploits, abuses or endangers a child, whether it happens on Sawa or uses Sawa to make it happen somewhere else.
Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) means any photo, video, audio, drawing, cartoon, text or other material, real, edited, computer-made or made with artificial intelligence, that shows or describes a child in a sexual way or in sexually explicit conduct, or that sexualises a child.
2. What is prohibited
Using Sawa for any of the following is prohibited:
Creating, uploading, sharing, storing, requesting, selling or linking to CSAM, including material that is fictional, drawn, edited or generated by AI.
Sexualising a child in any way, including sexual comments about a child, sexual descriptions of a child, or sexualised photos of a child even where no nudity is shown.
Grooming: building trust with a child, or with a child’s parent or carer, in order to sexually abuse or exploit the child.
Using Sawa to find, contact, meet or gain access to a child for any sexual purpose, including through a family, through an event or through a group circle.
Sextortion: threatening to share sexual images of a child, or pressuring a child for images, money or contact.
Trafficking a child, or advertising, offering or arranging the sexual exploitation of a child.
Sharing or asking for a child’s private details (school, home address, daily routine, live location) in a way that could put the child at risk.
Content that promotes, praises, normalises or gives instructions for any of the above.
Helping, encouraging or covering up any of the above.
These rules apply whether or not the child is real, whether or not the child is related to you, and whether or not the content was sent privately.
3. Children in family photos and posts
Sawa is for adults, but couples with children are welcome, and a family photo can be part of a couple’s profile or a chat. If you share anything that shows a child:
You must be that child’s parent or legal guardian, or have their parent’s or guardian’s permission.
Do not share any image of a child who is nude or partly dressed, including bath, swimming or beach photos that show a child undressed.
Do not share details that could help a stranger find a child, such as their school, their full name with their location, or where they will be and when.
Do not share content that shows a child being harmed, humiliated or put in danger.
We may remove any content showing a child where we think it puts that child at risk, even if it does not break a specific rule above.
Events and group circles on Sawa are for adults. A plan may say that families are welcome, but no event or circle on Sawa may be created to give adults access to children who are not their own.
4. How Sawa is built to keep children out
Adults only. Sawa is only for people aged 18 and over. Each partner gives their date of birth, and our servers refuse any date of birth that makes a person younger than 18.
Couples, not individuals. Every account belongs to a couple. Both partners sign up with their own phone numbers and verify them with a one-time code.
Reviewed before visible. A new couple’s profile cannot be seen by other couples until our team has reviewed and approved it.
Events are reviewed. Events that couples propose stay hidden until our team approves them. Events we list from other websites are screened, and events meant for children are not listed.
Blocking. Any couple can block another couple at any time. A blocked couple can no longer contact them.
No anonymous strangers. There is no random chat on Sawa. Couple-to-couple messaging opens only after both couples agree to connect.
Sawa AI. Sawa’s AI assistant is built to point a person towards real help, including India’s child helpline, when a conversation suggests a child may be at risk. Sawa AI does not replace a report. Please use the steps in section 5.
5. How to report
If a child is in immediate danger, call the police on 112 first. Then tell us.
In the app: tap Report on the profile, message or group circle, and say that it concerns a child. You can also block the couple at the same time. Reports are confidential: the couple you report is never told who reported them.
By email: write to admin@sawa.living with the subject line Child safety. Tell us which couple, chat, circle or event it concerns, and when you saw it. You do not need a Sawa account to report.
Please do not download, screenshot, forward or copy any image or video that you believe shows a child being abused, not even to send it to us. Sharing it can itself be a crime. Describe where you saw it and we will find it.
Outside Sawa, in India:
Police emergency: 112
National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal: cybercrime.gov.in, which accepts reports about child sexual abuse material, including anonymously
Cyber crime helpline: 1930
Childline, free and open day and night: 1098
Outside India: contact your local police. You can also report child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org.
6. What we do when we receive a report
Priority review. Reports that concern a child go to the front of our team’s queue. We aim to act within 24 hours of receiving a report, and immediately where a child may be at risk.
Removal. We remove CSAE and CSAM as soon as we become aware of it, and in every case within the time limits set by Indian law.
Account removal. We permanently remove the accounts of the people responsible. Because a Sawa account belongs to a couple, the whole couple account is removed unless we are satisfied that only one partner was involved.
No coming back. We keep a one-way, coded record of the phone numbers of removed accounts so that the same people cannot sign up again. For removals involving serious harm to a child, we keep that record for five years.
Reporting. We report CSAM and CSAE to the police or the Special Juvenile Police Unit, and through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, as Indian law requires (see section 7).
Evidence. We keep the material and the related account information secured, with access limited to the few people handling the case, for as long as the law and the investigation require.
Follow-up. Where we can, we tell the person who reported that we have acted. We do not share details that could harm an investigation or identify the person who reported.
We do not notify an account that it has been reported for child safety, and we do not warn it before acting, where doing so could put a child at risk or interfere with an investigation.
7. Reporting to authorities and working with law enforcement
Under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (sections 19 to 21) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Rules, 2020 (rule 11), anyone who knows of, or receives, sexual material involving a child must report it to the Special Juvenile Police Unit or the local police, or through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. As an intermediary, Sawa also hands over the material and the information needed to trace where it came from. We comply with these duties in every case.
We cooperate with law enforcement investigations into child sexual abuse and exploitation. We respond to lawful requests from Indian government agencies within the time set by the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, and we preserve records connected to removed content for at least 180 days, or longer when an authority asks us to. Where a case involves another country, we may also report to the relevant authority there or to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
Law enforcement officers can contact us at admin@sawa.living with the subject line Law enforcement request.
8. If we find that a member is under 18
If we learn that a person on Sawa is under 18, we close the account and delete their personal data, except what the law requires us to keep, including what we must keep to report possible harm to the child. If you believe a member of Sawa is under 18, report it the way described in section 5.
9. If you think we made a mistake
If your account was removed under these standards and you believe it was a mistake, you can write to our Grievance Officer (section 11). We will acknowledge your message within 24 hours and reply within 15 days. We will never restore content that is CSAM, and we will never reverse a report that we have made to the authorities.
10. The laws we follow
We operate in line with the laws of India that protect children, including:
the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Rules, 2020
the Information Technology Act, 2000, including section 67B, which makes it an offence to publish, transmit, create, collect, seek, browse, download, advertise, promote or exchange material depicting children in sexually explicit acts
the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021
the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023
Where Sawa is used outside India, we also follow the child safety laws of the country concerned, as far as they apply to us.
11. Contact
Child safety contact and Grievance Officer
Arfam Alam
Email: admin@sawa.living (subject line: Child safety)
Address: Sawa Technologies Private Limited, H No. 149, Indulge House, Karkyachowhal, Revora, North Goa, Bardez, Goa 403513, India
Sawa Living is operated by Sawa Technologies Private Limited, a company incorporated in India, with its registered office at the address above.
12. Changes to these standards
We review these standards at least once a year and whenever the law changes. When we update them, we change the date at the top of this page. The version on this page is always the one in force.