On 22 February 2018, the National Center for Child Abuse Prevention (NCCAP) organized the workshop “Multiagency response to violence against children through a friendly service for children victims based on Barnahus Model”.
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Bragi Guðbrandsson had a keynote speech and several PROMISE partner representatives presented the different aspects of the Barnahus model. As a result, many countries showed interest and the city of the Hague, the Netherlands announced the planned launch of their first Barnahus by January 2019.
The conference advocated for child-friendly, multi-disciplinary and interagency services supporting child victims of violence. Several high-level speakers gave their support to the European Barnahus Movement, including Věra Jourová, European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, and Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative to the UN Secretary-General on Violence against Children. Bragi Guðbrandsson, lead expert, presented the Icelandic experience and how it has inspired the European Barnahus Movement. The expert panels discussed multi-disciplinary and interagency responses to violence against children in Europe and how the Barnahus Model embodies children’s rights. In this context, the European Barnahus Quality Standards document was launched.
In 2015, thirteen countries joined the PROMISE vision to promote child-friendly, multi-disciplinary and interagency services supporting child victims and witnesses of violence. The efforts to consolidate support for Barnahus or comparable models in these countries has been brewing for some time – often years.