Description
In up to 90% of cases children witness domestic violence. These children are at risk of the CAN (Child Abuse and Neglect) syndrome, yet there are no easily accessible social services or work methods to help them cope with the consequences of domestic violence. The project aims at establishing an innovative model to include the whole family endangered by domestic violence, which shall protect the child’s interest, provide complex and sensitive help to endangered children and their families and thus contribute to a reduction in the incidence of domestic violence. The essential principle of the model is separate treatment of the domestic violence perpetrator, the person at risk and the child as a witness of domestic violence (the three pillars). To achieve these goals we will open a center of complex help for children at risk of domestic violence, prepare expert and methodological materials and initiate the establishment of a professional platform. A study on the effect of domestic violence on the psycho-social development of children will be made. The project will be supported by an information campaign – “What is normal at home?” – focusing on endangered children.
Summary of project results
We opened the Locika Centre, the first specialised centre in the Czech Republic for children at risk of domestic violence. In the pilot operation, we tested an innovative way of working with the entire family. More than 160 children attended the centre during the year. The Facebook campaign What's Normal at Home has also been successful. In cooperation with our project partner, the Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs, we have published a unique study called Children, Parents and Domestic Violence on the influence of this violence on child development. In order to promote good interdisciplinary cooperation, we organised four successful round tables for a total of 73 experts, the output of which is the publication “Terms Used in the Context of Working with the Entire Family at Risk of Domestic Violence”. The final conference entitled "Children and Domestic Violence - New Perspectives" was attended by 140 experts in the Prague National Technical Library; based on the outputs of the conference, a recommendation was made to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs on how to proceed in cases of children at such risk. The project has showed a great need for services for children at risk of domestic violence, and has helped to establish good cooperation with ministries and other organisations and publicise the issue properly. On this basis, we will initiate the establishment of other similar centres in the Czech Republic.
Summary of bilateral results