On 24 May 2022, representatives from the Slovenian Barnahus, the Slovenian Ministry of Justice and the Slovenian Police visited the Barnahus in Reykjavik, Iceland. The purpose of the visit was to exchange experience and knowledge on the implementation of the Barnahus model to address child sexual abuse by coordinating parallel criminal and social welfare investigations in a child-friendly and safe environment, following the launching of the first Barnahus of Slovenia in May 2022, which was possible through the support of the EU Reform – Council of Europe joint project “Support the implementation of Barnahus in Slovenia - phase II”, in coordination with the Norway Grants.

Following the visit to the Reykjavik Barnahus premises, the Slovenian partners met with representatives of the Icelandic Ministry of Education and Children. The discussion centred around the new law regulating the protection of children’s rights in Iceland and the Barnahus law of Slovenia adopted in 2021. Ms Silja Stefánsdóttir, Legal Adviser at the Icelandic Ministry of Education and Children, stressed that Iceland has pledged to become the best country for children to live in and they are moving in that direction. She also mentioned that the economic return in investing in children is higher than the one on the Icelandic pension fund. Mr Andrej del Fabro, from the Slovenian Ministry of Justice, presented the process of drafting and adoption of the Barnahus law in Slovenia and expressed sincere wishes for long-term co-operation to continue to promote excellence in the matter.

The Icelandic government is a pioneer in implementing the Barnahus model, being the first country in Europe to introduce it as a public independent agency and having applied the model for over 23 years. Consequently, the Icelandic counterparts were able to provide the Slovenian stakeholders with great insight and in-depth knowledge of the history and implementation dynamics of the model, and to share good practices and potential gaps.