Sexual abuse is a crime and a violation of Children’s Rights. According to the Council of Europe, it affects 1 in 5 children. Usually, this crime is committed by someone with a close relationship with the child. These potentially traumatic experiences can compromise the physical and mental health of children and young victims in the short, medium and long term.
Based on the assumption that this is a complex issue that requires specialized intervention, the Barnahus model was developed in Iceland. This model has gathered international recognition as a good intervention practice, as it offers children and young victims a comprehensive, coordinated and professional response adapted to their characteristics.
Through the support of the EEA Grants Fund for Bilateral Relations, the Associação para o Planeamento da Família (APF) in a close partnership with Comissão Nacional para a Promoção dos Direitos e Proteção das Crianças e Jovens, Centro de Estudos Judiciários, Instituto Naconal de Medicina Legal e Ciências Forenses, Polícia Judiciária, Council of the Baltic Sea States and Barnaheill have designed the Project 4Children.
This project, which started already, aims to build bilateral partnerships to learn about and, eventually, implement the Barnahus model in Portugal. This Project’s main goal is to contribute to the protection of children and young victims, through the development of an integrated and specialized intervention in sexual abuse, avoiding the dispersion of responses and the multiplication of interviews with children which contribute to their re-victimization.