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Description
The project mainly aims to promote respect for children''s rights at national level, improve the conditions for conducting judicial investigations involving children, increase access to mental recovery and rehabilitation services for children with disabilities, improve the skills of professionals in terms of dialogue and interaction with minors. The final target group is represented by 1,207 children, especially children from rural areas, who are victims of domestic violence and abuse, children with disabilities who are deprived of affectionate and protective treatment, children who come into contact with public institutions in judicial investigations.
Project activities include: the purchase of land; construction of a building on the acquired land and establishment of a community center that will provide services to the beneficiaries (e.g. therapy and psychological counseling sessions etc.); arranging a therapeutic garden; arranging two hearing rooms for minors within two public institutions in Craiova; training of the 70 professionals from public institutions (County Police Inspectorate, the Juvenile Detention Center, the Dolj Bar, child protection system), will benefit from training in the field of child rights protection; organising a mobile caravan for promoting respect for children''s rights at national level, bilateral activities carried out in collaboration with the Norwegian partner in the field of child protection.
Summary of project results
Currently, there are several recommendations addressed to Romania regarding the protection of human rights that require intervention, including the protection of children''s rights, the rights of persons with disabilities, the right to protection against abuse and gender-based violence, the rights of detainees, and the rights of minorities. The project proposes measures to improve the enforcement of these rights in rural areas of the Southwest Oltenia region.
The first general issue concerns the widespread lack of awareness and non-compliance with these rights in rural areas. Additionally, the marginalization of children with disabilities and the lack of empathy from their peers are significant problems. In many low-income rural families, a lack of attention and affectionate treatment for children, combined with domestic violence, is a daily reality. One major factor in the violation of children''s rights is not only financial hardship but also a lack of education and the persistence of outdated beliefs that change slowly and require concerted efforts to influence.
The second issue concerns the unpleasant experiences of children who have come into contact with public authorities due to legal investigations, divorce proceedings, being victims or witnesses of violence or abuse, or having committed an offense themselves. Regardless of the reason for their contact with the public system, their experience has been negative because the existing infrastructure of public authorities—from police headquarters to juvenile centers—is inadequate, intimidating, and even traumatizing for a child. Sometimes, children must wait in hallways before hearings, during which they are exposed to an environment unsuitable for their age. The lack of a child-friendly space does not encourage dialogue between the child and the authorities but rather induces fear and inhibits them from recounting the events they witnessed, experienced, or committed.
The third issue is the frequent lack of empathy, tact, and expertise among some representatives of state authorities who interact with children (especially those with disabilities) and who lack even basic competencies in child psychology. A frightened, intimidated, or emotionally blocked minor may refuse to cooperate, which leads to the irritation of the professional handling the case, further intensifying the lack of warmth in their treatment of the child. Research, as well as an analysis of the circumstances surrounding the *Câmpeanu v. Romania* case, has shown that a lack of empathy and understanding, as well as the perception of persons with disabilities as a "burden" by professionals—who actively avoid or even refuse to engage with them—constitutes a major cause of inadequate treatment and the violation of the rights of persons with disabilities. However, this issue can be remedied by developing basic competencies that facilitate relational communication with these individuals, using appropriate, friendly language adapted to their level of understanding, and adopting a caring and protective tone. A change in attitude among professionals significantly improves the psychological well-being of vulnerable children who come into contact with authorities.
The fourth issue that the project aims to address sustainably is the limited access of vulnerable children in rural areas to post-traumatic psychological counseling services. According to the 2019 report from the Ministry of Labor (*Analysis and Evaluation of Vulnerable Groups to Determine the Need for Social Services*), residential centers for young people in difficulty are estimated to cover only 0.6% of the total need, with a significant underestimation of actual demand. The same report states that the number of social services deemed necessary in rural areas (5,933 services) is twice as high as in urban areas (2,497 services). In rural areas, public services for vulnerable groups predominate, while additional support from NGOs is very limited, leading to a significant service gap.
Due to financial constraints and prejudices regarding the usefulness of counseling sessions, many vulnerable children do not have access to specialists. As a result, they do not receive measures to mitigate the impact of trauma, nor urgent and innovative recovery and rehabilitation strategies. Without professional assistance, children struggle to heal, overcome their victimization, and disclose the abuse they have suffered. Instead, they internalize their trauma, which has harmful and long-lasting effects. This is evident in cases like *M.G.C. v. Romania*, where M.G.C., a victim of sexual abuse, concealed the incident out of fear, leading to repeated and prolonged abuse. In *D.M.D. v. Romania*, a father who suffered childhood trauma at the hands of his own parent replicated the same violent behavior toward his own son, perpetuating the cycle of violence indefinitely.
Other issues concern the deficient communication and cooperation between different actors involved in protecting children''s rights. These include parents who tolerate and regularly perpetrate domestic violence against their own children, teachers who deliver only formal instruction on children''s and human rights, and professionals such as police officers, lawyers, and employees of juvenile detention centers who fail to show empathy when interacting with children. These professionals tend to react in a rigid and strictly procedural manner, without considering the child''s best interests. They constitute the project''s target group, as they need to improve their ability to communicate effectively and compassionately with children.
The project has contributed to the long-term improvement of the mental well-being of children who come into contact with public authorities during judicial investigations by setting up two child-friendly and non-traumatizing spaces—one within the Dolj County Police Inspectorate and another within the juvenile detention center in Craiova.
Additionally, 70 police officers, educators, and lawyers have been trained in effective dialogue and interaction with minors. They have completed a training program focused on victim psychology and child psychology.
In the long run, the project aims to enhance the recovery, reintegration, and psychological rehabilitation of over 1,200 children through the establishment of a therapeutic hub.
At the national level, awareness campaigns on children''s rights have been conducted through "Caravans of Dignity."
The project directly contributed to achieving the general objective of the call to ensure the national implementation of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decisions and specific country recommendations. The main areas of intervention addressed by the project were children’s rights, prisoners'' rights, and the rights of persons with disabilities. In the long term, it contributed to the development and promotion of integrated solutions for the effective protection of vulnerable children’s rights in rural areas: children who are victims of violence and abuse, children with disabilities, children at high risk of poverty, minors in detention, including from the Roma population.
The target group consisted of over 1,200 children from rural areas, belonging to vulnerable categories, aged between 11-17 years, who not only needed better knowledge of their rights but, more importantly, needed improvements in how these rights are applied and respected.
In this regard, the project contributed to:
- Improving the mental well-being of children undergoing judicial investigations by creating specially designed spaces within two public institutions responsible for child protection and by enhancing the way professionals in these institutions interact with children.
- Improving the mental well-being of vulnerable children by offering therapy and psychological counseling sessions within the therapeutic hub.
- Familiarizing children with their rights and how they can defend them.
- Creating circles of trust by establishing direct contact with police officers and lawyers.
- Increasing awareness of human rights among children and their parents through a children’s rights awareness caravan.
Through the project, a multidisciplinary Therapeutic Hub for vulnerable children was established, implementing a sustainable mechanism for long-term protection of the rights of vulnerable individuals. The project contributed to building a public system in the best interest of the child, capable of offering support through competent specialists, trained in multidisciplinary fields, sensitive to the rights and needs of children, and able to communicate effectively with minors to provide affectionate and child-adapted treatment. Additionally, the project contributed to better knowledge and application of the fundamental principles of children’s rights, the supremacy of their best interests, protection against discrimination, protection of dignity, and the information and counseling of vulnerable children.
Summary of bilateral results
The Norwegian partner was a key partner in the success of the project as they ensured the implementation of training activities for Romanian experts to acquire specific competencies as trainers. These trainers, in turn, will pass on this knowledge, skills, and expertise to professionals who interact with children during judicial investigations.The transfer of knowledge, know-how, teaching techniques, and training from the Norwegian partner to our organization’s experts was based on the use of the latest and most modern training techniques, supported by well-structured course materials. As a result, techniques and tools from psychodrama, the Therapeutic Spiral Method, playback theater, the Espere Method, Sandplay therapy, associative metaphorical cards, as well as essential content from child psychology and trauma psychology were delivered.The Norwegian partner also participated as a guest in the training sessions and meetings organized with public authorities, discussing the police''s role in the child protection process, the ways communication with children is ensured, good practice sets, and recommendations for Romanian specialists.