This is a training and education programme to enable professionals to help children in danger of sexual abuse. Participants are not strangers who merely appear in a child’s life during legal questioning and court cases. Instead they supervise families in crisis, get to know the children and become their friends and mentors. With their support and friendship, the child will not be afraid to speak out against the abuser.
The idea for this project came about when a mother and her children came to Misto Dobra needing just such support. When we started looking for specialists who could help, it turned out that there were very few of them.
The “I Am the Future of Ukraine” Foundation paid for the education and training of this special group of professionals and will continue to pay for the support of children who have suffered sexual abuse. All the work takes place on the premises of Misto Dobra; early on we discovered that 80% of the mothers who came to our Centre had experienced sexual harassment in childhood, leading to trauma and further misfortune in their lives.
Our first group of psychologists has already graduated. It consists of 12 representatives from the juvenile service, the children’s service and the best psychologists from Chernivtsi. All participants have learnt how to identify signs of domestic violence, how to interview a child, and many other skills necessary for those working in such a complex and traumatic area.