2020-09-21
The Government of Georgia has approved the concept of a Center for Psychological and Social Services for children victims of violence, according to which a Center for Psychological and Social Services for children victims of violence will be established in Tbilisi and Kutaisi within the framework of the LEPL Agency for State Care and Assistance for the (Statutory) Victims of Human Trafficking.
The Center will operate in pilot mode in 2021 and will provide services to children victims of sexual violence. The aim of the services provided by the Center, considering the best interests of the children, is to prevent the secondary victimization of the children victims and to provide them with psychological and social rehabilitation in an environment tailored to children.
As Ana Buchukuri, head of the Human Rights Secretariat of the Administration of the Government, stated, the Center is based on best international practice in this area, known worldwide as the Barnahus Model.
"The Center will be tailored to the best interests of the children in terms of both essence and infrastructure, and it will provide services to children victims of sexual violence in pilot mode. The Center will cease operating in pilot mode at the end of 2021, at which point we will have the opportunity to consider expanding the circle of the Center's beneficiaries. The idea behind the Center is to provide services to the children victims of violence in accordance with the One Window principle. This means that investigative actions - interviewing the child and conducting forensic examinations - as well as the psychological and social rehabilitation of the child victim will take place in the same space, which is of critical importance," Ana Buchukuri, head of the Human Rights Secretariat of the Administration of the Government, stated.
The project is implemented with the financial and technical support of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Press Service of the Government Administration