The first Child Advocacy Centre has opened in the Czech Republic and is to become a safe and neutral place for comprehensive and dedicated help for children at risk of domestic violence. LOCIKA Centre and the Sirius Foundation opened the centre with the assistance of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The law firm HAVEL & PARTNERS has been involved in the preparations by providing pro bono legal advice.
As part of the pro bono legal assistance, Adéla Havlová, a Partner, Tereza Patočková, a Legal Expert, and Soňa Stará, a Junior Associate, helped draft coordination agreements for cooperation between the LOCIKA Centre, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and subsequently other public administration bodies that will use the Child Advocacy Centre to address cases of violence against children.
“We are very pleased that as legal advisors, we were able to contribute to the establishment of the Child Advocacy Centre. Over the past two years, the police have recorded a sharp increase in violent crimes against children. The offenders often get off with only conditional sentences while many other cases are not even reported to the authorities. Child victims are particularly vulnerable, and we therefore consider it crucial to provide them with the necessary professional assistance in time. Thanks to the Child Advocacy Centre, the children can use this safe environment where they can get the help they need from experts at one location,” said Adéla Havlová, a Partner at HAVEL & PARTNERS.
In the last seven years, a total of 39 children have been tortured to death and another 700 have suffered lasting effects. Domestic violence affects 14% of Czech children, which statistically means 2 to 3 schoolchildren in each class. Assistance to these victims is now the responsibility of several ministries (the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice). Assistance to children at risk is not, however, provided in a systematic and coordinated manner by these authorities.
In practice, it takes months to a year for abused children to reach a specialist who can provide them with the specialised help they need. Moreover, during the process of investigation and subsequent assistance, the child gets into contact with 47 different people from 15 different institutions. The child has to undergo a forensic examination, an interview with social workers, and questioning by the police and the court, and therefore, ends up speaking to up to 29 different people during the investigation and the whole process of handling the case. The Child Advocacy Centre is expected to change the current system so that the child undergoes the entire challenging procedure at a single spot. To conclude, officials, police officers, law enforcement authorities, doctors and psychologists will come directly to the centre so that children can undergo the demanding investigation in an environment where they feel safe.
