A new type of service, based on the Barnahaus model, will be established in the Republic of Moldova for children who witness or are victims of crimes — regional integrated service centres. These centres will serve children who have been victims of sexual abuse, family violence, human trafficking or other kinds of crimes. All children involved in criminal procedures will be safely interrogated in these centres, while also benefitting from medical, psychological, judicial and social assistance.
The first of these establishments will be opened in Bălți, and will serve 12 administrative units in the Northern region. Similar structures will be subsequently opened in Chișinău and Cahul.
According to Daniela Sîmboteanu, CNPAC president (National Center for Prevention of Child Abuse), the new service is aligned with international standards, and will solve a dire problem —revictimizing children during criminal procedures.
This type of integrated social service for children who have witnessed or have been crime victims is known as Barnahaus and is supported by the UN and the European Council as a good practice in terms of multidisciplinary and cross-institutional response to sexual violence cases against children — Daniela Sîmboteanu.
According to Viorica Dumbrăveanu, Minister of Health, Labour and Social Protection:
Children’s wellbeing and protection should be an ambition for each and every one of us, not just for the authorities. We are all responsible for children and their problems. Throughout the years we have successfully promoted the legislative framework within child’s protections, but the system has been lacking specialised services for children who have witnessed or been crime victims. This new service will offer children a form of integrated, friendly assistance, having them as the sole focus, as well as medical, psychological, judicial and social assistance, all in the same place.
Statistics show that annually more than 1,200 children are victims or witnesses of different kind of crimes in the Republic of Moldova. Around 400 of these are sexually-related crimes.
More information is available on the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection’s website.