Today Encho Enchev, Deputy Mayor for Humanitarian Activities and Deana Dimova, Director of the Center Dinamika Association signed a protocol to unite efforts to prevent and counteract cases of children - victims or witnesses of domestic violence.
With this document, the local institution is committed to provide up-to-date information on current projects and topics related to domestic violence during the regular meetings of the Children's Commission and to support initiatives and projects aimed at promoting fundamental rights of women, children and human rights and non-discrimination on the basis of sex. Among the responsibilities of the municipality are also promoting the participation of its representatives in training and development initiatives on the issue of assisted violence[1], as well as ensuring cooperation and interaction with the parties to the agreement to achieve the objectives of the protocol.
Center Dinamika for its part will provide anti-violence services and specialized social and health services for the assessment and treatment of child victims of assisted violence, as well as joint planning with all members of the network involved in the protection and care of child victims of assisted violence. The association will also provide data necessary for the collection and processing of statistics related to the dynamics of the phenomenon and will promote initiatives for training, debate and upgrading information on the problem of assisted violence.
The protocol lasts 1 year and is an important part of the implementation of Children First: Improving Local Services for a More Effective and Child-Centred Aproach to Witnessed Violence Project under the EU's Rights, Equality and Citizenship Program. Its main goal is to improve the services for prevention, detection and treatment of cases of assisted violence through a multidisciplinary and holistic approach based on cooperation between public institutions and individuals.
Partners in the project on the part of Bulgaria are the Center for Sustainable Communities Development, Sofia and Center Dinamika Association, Ruse. Thanks to them, several focus groups have been held so far with women who have experienced domestic violence and their children, cascading trainings for representatives of various institutions working with children and information days with the academic community and the NGO sector. The work with the victims of domestic violence continues in the direction of their empowerment.
The most common form of gender-based violence is domestic violence and closely related assisted violence. Both forms of violence are underestimated, in particular the lack of systematic detection of assisted violence. A number of international and national conventions and laws protect the rights of victims of domestic violence as well as those of indirect victims, most often children who have witnessed violence. That is why joint work between the institutions is more than necessary.
Read more about the topic on the Facebook page of the project - https://www.facebook.com/ChildrenFirst.Project or on the websites of Center for Sustainable Communities Development - https://cscd-bg.org/en/projects/project-children-first and Center Dinamika Association - https://dinamika-ruse.bg/
[1] Assisted violence is a form of child abuse that has traumatic effects of the same intensity as those of direct violence (WHO).