The European Union-Council of Europe Joint Project “Implementing the Barnahus Model in Croatia” aims to improve the access and quality of the justice system for child victims and witnesses of violence in Croatia, to ensure that undue delays in the treatment of such cases are diminished, and that all children who are victims and witnesses of sexual violence benefit from a child-friendly access to justice.
The implementation of the legislative framework concerning protection of child victims and witnesses of criminal offences remains challenging in Croatia, especially regarding the number of examinations/interviews before and during the criminal proceedings. Since the adoption of the Criminal Procedure Act in 2008, pre-recorded interviews are used in Croatia, and the Croatian National Plan for Combating Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment 2022-2027 has a specific Measure 2.6 “Improving care and ensuring the availability of support services for victims of sexual offenses”. Building on the work already carried out by Croatia, the project aims to support the Croatian authorities in their first steps towards the establishment of a Barnahus in the country.
The project is co-funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, and co-funded and implemented by the Council of Europe’s Children's Rights Division in close co-operation with the Croatian Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, and DG REFORM from 1 September 2023 to 28 February 2026.
Barnahus (Children’s House) is a child-friendly, multidisciplinary and interagency response model for the coordination of criminal and child welfare investigations in cases of violence against children, including child sexual abuse.
It brings under one roof all relevant professionals (the judge, the prosecutor, the police, social workers and medical professionals such as psychologists, forensic doctors) in a safe environment for children, with the purpose of providing a coordinated and effective response and for preventing re-traumatisation during investigation and court proceedings. The Barnahus model puts the best interest of the child at the heart of investigative procedures, while taking into account that the child’s disclosure is key to identify and investigate violence against children both for criminal and for protective and therapeutic purposes.
Originally developed by the National Children’s Advocacy Centre in the United States, the model was introduced and adapted to the European context by Iceland in 1998. The model was recognised in 2015 as a promising practice by the Committee of the Parties to the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Committee). It has been already replicated in Sweden and Norway and is in the process of being adapted in more than a dozen of other European countries. Apart from this project in Croatia, the Council of Europe Children’s Rights Division has supported the Republic of Slovenia in establishing and operating their first Barnahus and is currently implementing projects in Finland, Ireland and Spain.
Supporting the sustainable operation of the Barnahus model in Croatia
The project will support an analysis of the current legal, institutional and policy frameworks for child protection at national level, the roles and responsibilities of key actors, inter-agency information exchange, and will assess the participation and involvement of children in these processes. The analysis will lead to a set of recommendations for improvement and a roadmap for the establishment of the Barnahus model in Croatia. The project will also contribute to the development of procedures and protocols to support inter-agency co-operation, in particular the signing of an inter-agency agreement between relevant ministries and other stakeholders. Finally, a draft business plan and guidelines for organisational and spatial coordination will be developed in consultation with key stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation of the Barnahus model in Croatia.
Enhancing knowledge and capacities of professionals working in Barnahus
In order to ensure that legal and non-legal professionals working with and for children in Barnahus are well equipped to fulfil their roles, the project will develop a training gap analysis to identify existing gaps that should be addressed. Recommendations from this analysis will then guide the development of appropriate training materials and the organisation of training of trainers’ workshops to create a pool of national trainers on priority topics. Finally, a study visit will be organised for Croatian professionals to another country where the Barnahus model has already been implemented, in order to learn about the challenges and opportunities that have arisen in the context of implementing the Barnahus model.
Raising awareness of professionals and the wider public on child sexual abuse
The project will produce a survey report on perceptions of child sexual abuse in Croatia and, in particular, on the quality and child-friendliness of judicial services available to child victims and witnesses of violence. Roundtables and workshops will be organised to raise awareness among decision makers. Finally, to ensure the successful implementation of the Barnahus model, relevant Council of Europe standards and other materials will be adapted to the Croatian context before being disseminated and promoted through various channels throughout the country.
The participation of representatives of the relevant bodies and institutions is foreseen. Civil society organisations and academia will also be involved in Project activities to identify existing shortcomings of the Croatian justice system in relation to child victims and witnesses of violence.
The Project targets relevant authorities and legal and non-legal professionals in contact with children and/or dealing with cases of child sexual abuse. They will benefit directly from the Project through reports, analysis and tools on how to implement the Barnahus model in Croatia, as well as capacity building activities.
The final beneficiaries of the Project are children at risk of, victims and/or witnesses of any type of violence, including physical and sexual abuse. Children will eventually benefit from improved access to justice, more effective state response and more child-centred and child-friendly practices during the processing and management of violence against children, including child sexual and physical abuse cases.
The Croatian society as a whole will ultimately benefit from the Project with the wider public reached through awareness raising and promotional activities.
What is the project?
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What is Barnahus?
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Useful resources in Croatian
Video on the Icelandic Barnahus model
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