Safeguarding Teenage Intimate Partner Relationships (STIR): The perspective of the Bulgarian experts Luiza Shahbazyan (Applied Research and Communications Fund) Christine Barter (University of Bristol) Georgi.
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Transcript Safeguarding Teenage Intimate Partner Relationships (STIR): The perspective of the Bulgarian experts Luiza Shahbazyan (Applied Research and Communications Fund) Christine Barter (University of Bristol) Georgi.
Safeguarding Teenage Intimate Partner
Relationships (STIR):
The perspective of the Bulgarian experts
Luiza Shahbazyan (Applied Research and Communications Fund)
Christine Barter (University of Bristol)
Georgi Apostolov (Applied Research and Communications Fund)
15-18 September
2013 ISPCAN European Regional Conference on Child Abuse & Neglect
Dublin, Ireland
The organisation
Applied Research and Communications Fund is a leading Bulgarian
innovation policy and research institute.
Since 1991 we have supported the development of information
society through policy analyses, advocacy, capacity building and
awareness raising.
Since 2005 we have been implementing the EC Safer Internet
program in Bulgaria
Currently, we coordinate an integrated Safer Internet Centre with
an awareness node, a hotline and a helpline that aims to create a
better and safer internet experiences for children and young people.
The problem
Over 90% of the Bulgarian teens use internet on a regular basis, one in five
has received nasty or hurtful messages (EU Kids Online, 2010). 50% of the
inquiries to the national child helpline are about teen dating. However, prior
to this initiative there isn’t any systematic assessment of the existing
safeguarding mechanisms concerning date violence and related phenomena.
The aim
To map and evaluate the policy and practice in the
area of teenage intimate violence and the degree to
which the online context is addressed.
The method
Design: workshop for experts, policy makers, practitioners and other key
stakeholders
Stumuli: developed by the project partners, includes a set of questions and a
hypothetical case
Procedure: Group discussion of the case followed by Q&A session
Duration: 3:30 h
Participants: 38 participants from various organisations including Ministry of
Education and Science, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, General
Directorate of National Police, district police stations, district offices on
juvenile delinquency, State Agency for Child Protection, UNWE, Bulgarian Safer
Internet hotline and helpline, the child helpline 116 111, the missing children
helpline 116 000, other NGOs
NGOs
Participants
3%
10%
29%
32%
26%
Academia
Education
Law enforcement
Other public institutuons
NGOs
Stimuli
Anna’s teacher is concerned about her. She has found boys in Anna’s class
laughing over pictures of her on their mobile phones. The pictures show
her having oral sex with a boy who looks much older than her. Anna is 15.
The teacher has talked to Anna about the pictures. Anna says that her
boyfriend took them and she doesn’t mind although she was upset when
the boys in her class started laughing about them. She says that she didn’t
know that everyone would see them. She doesn’t want her parents to
know about them as they would be angry and might try and stop her
seeing her boyfriend. She says that Mark, her boyfriend, is 19 and she really
likes him although he sometimes laughs at her and tells her she is stupid.
She says that he sent the pictures to friends because he was angry with her
for spending an evening out with her girlfriends.
Findings: case discussion I
Defining instances of partner violence involving internet and mobile
technologies
Identifying people in position to help
School team including the class teacher, the principal and the school
psychologist/counselor to work with the target, the classmates and the family
Assessing needs
Identified as interpersonal violence - psychological and emotional abuse, evidence for
sexual crime (dissemination of CAM)
Providing psychological support and family consultation, involving police to track
down and remove the harmful content
Availability of relevant literature or literature
No written materials mentioned, discussions and individual consultations
recommended
Findings: case discussion II
Is it a child protection issue?
Existing guidance for managing the case
Definitely yes. Evidence for violation of target’s rights, she is entitled to services
under multiple legal documents including the Child Protection Act and the Law on
Juvenile Delinquency.
Coordinating mechanism for counteracting bullying
Coordinating mechanism for safeguarding children at risk
The Child Protection Act
School rules and regulations
School child protection policy
Job descriptions of the school personnel
What if the target is 13 years old?
Sexual abuse is categorised differently in the Penal code for children under and over 14. In
other acts there is no such distinction.
Findings: Q&A I
Policy and practice initiatives on violence in teenage intimate relationships
Mostly initiatives by the NGO sector within projects for prevention of bullying,
cyberbullying and gender based violence targeted at young people and
practitioners, mostly implemented as a one time event in schools and social
services
Prevention of virtual and real violence by interactive sessions in schools
Schools without gender-based violence and stereotypes
No specific policy in place
Findings: Q&A II
Professional training available
Mostly delivered by NGOs as one time events
Methodologies developed by SAPI, GERT and Anymus to target relational violence
High staff turnover, so trainings for better qualification are not sustainable
The teenage intimate violence in the media
The public is not very sensitive towards this problem, tendency to blame the victim
Media tend to present stories in a sensational way
Findings: Q&A III
Gender perspective in policies/measures
Are intimate partner violence cases addressed in prevention and intervention
measures/policies?
Recognized in measures against domestic violence
No policy, several attempts were made to pass gender equality law unsuccessfully due to lack of understanding
of the issue
Equality against the law does not guarantee gender equality
Law on domestic violence
Social services for children and women victims of domestic violence
National plan for prevention of violence 2012-2014 includes one of the NGO’s campaign against domestic
violence “Violence should not become tradition” within project “Childhood without violence” by SAPI
It is not part of the prevention objectives of the police and offices on juvenile delinquency
Professionals’ understanding of gender perspective
Most psychologists and social workers are sensitive, teachers are not
Agreement that most victims are female and the impact for the target is enormous
Domestic violence is the most familiar form, most likely to be addressed in campaigns
Concerns
Lack of clear procedures to prevent secondary victimisation of the target
when multiple institutions have to intervene, existence of conflicting
procedures, limited use of care proceedings
Existing coordinating mechanism for child protection but poor
implementation
Numerous materials and practices developed by NGOs, no significant
impact on political level
High staff turnover, which impedes continuous training
Feeling helpless when dealing with internet crimes
No political will to address the gender perspective
Conclusions
Intimate partner violence is treated most often as type of psychological and
sexual abuse
Low awareness of the specifics of online intimate partner violence, most
practitioners don’t feel ready to address it.
Dealing with crimes that have online and offline components requires
multidisciplinary teams to intervene but existing mechanisms are not working
NGOs most active in the area offering a number of existing programs for
prevention for students and professionals as well as social services to offer help
and support to targets.
Lack of up to date findings that differentiate between types of meanness online.
No policy in place or any state initiated comprehensive measures to address
the issue of teenage partner violence explicitly, either online or offline.
Questions?
Luiza Shahbazyan
[email protected]
Applied Research and Communications Fund
Project website: http://stiritup.eu
www.ARCfund.net | www.Safenet.bg