Barnahouse – center for children who have suffered from violence: general characteristics and implementation in Ukraine
Authors: Bondarenko Nelli 
Published: January 2023

The problem of violence against children is worldwide. According to data from the World Health Organization, child abuse is a global problem with serious lifelong consequences. According to statistics, a quarter of all adults were physically abused as children. One in five women and one in 13 men reported sexual violence and abuse as a child. The consequences of child abuse have a serious impact on physical and mental health throughout life, and its social and professional productivity can slow down the economic and social development of a country over time, and therefore reflect on the mental health of the entire society. In Ukraine, the problem of violence against children is quite acute. The urgency of the painful topic for society is that this issue is complex, unpredictable and difficult to solve. When a child is maltreated, a number of different actors, including. To date, such subjects as social services, medical institutions, justice bodies, prosecutor's office and judges, who are obliged to promote the observance of the rights of the child and act in the best way in his interests, do not always work in harmony. : the child goes through several institutions and is repeatedly interviewed by different specialists, in different places, is exposed to different methods of collecting information. Moving a child between different institutions and departments for the purpose of interviewing and describing the situation related to violence against him causes retraumatization (revictimization) of the child. She relives the same fears she faced. Such multiple interviews of the child in different places and institutions, which are often conducted without using approaches that are understandable to him, lead to his repeated traumatization (victimization), as a result of which the results of the interviews differ from each other, because very often the testimony of the child as a witness or victim can be distorted or discredited. Research has shown that such re-victimization can actually cause more harm to a child than the abuse itself. In addition, repeated interrogations carried out by people who have not undergone special training can distort the child's story about the events through suggestion and negatively affect the course of the investigation of the criminal case. Children who have suffered or become victims of violence or other illegal actions, during the preliminary investigation and pre-trial proceedings, need to apply appropriate measures, receive complex and coordinated services and support. Therefore, recently, more and more often, scientists talk about the need to introduce interdepartmental and interdisciplinary cooperation in combination with the use of special techniques and methods of interviewing the child as a decisive step in protecting the rights of children who have suffered as a result of criminal acts and children who have witnessed abuse and violence. It is also important that the participants in the process are fully aware of how their actions will affect the child, i.e. ensuring the rights of the child should be a priority. This requires the responsibility and active participation of all organizations involved in this process. In different countries, different types of services of interdisciplinary and interagency structures are implemented - depending on the legal system, social structure, cultural traditions, etc. In some states, integral complexes of interdepartmental and interdisciplinary cooperation are gradually being formed according to certain models. However, to date, one of the most effective models of interdepartmental and interdisciplinary cooperation is the world-proven Barnahus model (hereinafter - "Barnachus"). Today, the model is recognized as a best practice for protecting children from violence and dealing with the consequences of violence that a child has experienced. The obtained results of the research consist in the analysis of the "Barnachus" model in Ukraine. The article outlines the basic understanding of the Barnahus model, defines Barnahus quality standards, which are required by the legislative basis for the operation of the model and its implementation in Ukraine.