Child as a Witness

V National Conference „Helping children - victims of crime" took place on 27th - 28th October 2008, in Warsaw, Poland.
As in the previous years, the main aim of the event was to find new ways of improving the situation of children who fell victims of crime, Main theme of the conference was assistance to children who experienced violence and abuse, as well as protection of child witnesses taking part in legal procedures. Conference sessions featured many Polish and international experts active in the field of child protection, including Kevin Browne (UK), Nancy Chandler (USA), Peter Adriaenssens (Belgium) and Lars Lööf (Sweden).

The guide is a joint publication by UNICEF and United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime. Written in a language easily understood by children, it provides explanations of rules and legal notions present in the original document.

 

 

One of partner organisations in Childhood without Abuse Project - Social Activities and Practices Institute from Bulgaria - decided to become more involved in tackling the problem of children taking part in legal procedures.To increase cooperation between the Bulgarian organisation and the Nobody's Children Foundation from Poland, a new initiative - "Coalition for child-friendly interviewing" Project - was taken up.

Goals of the new project are:

„What's my story? A guide to using intermediaries to help vulnerable witnesses" was published by British Office for Criminal Justice Reform.

An intermediary is a person who assists a vulnerable witness understand questions and then communicates the witness's responses.