There is not a single bed in a health facility that would take care of a child with acute psychological problems, the Montenegrin social and child protection system has limited support for families and child victims of violence, and employees in education report violence against children slowly and ineffectively, and try to investigate incidents themselves, which endanger minors and/or a non-violent parent.
These are just some of the problems recognized by the draft strategy for the prevention and protection of children from violence for the period from 2024 to 2027.
It is emphasized that the victims of domestic violence in 2021 were children in more than half of the cases (53 percent).
The document emphasizes that violence against children in families, schools, but also in the online space, arranged marriages, the absence of protocols and the unwillingness of the state apparatus to properly face these problems are the key challenges that institutions must deal with in the next three years.
VIOLATIONS OF RIGHTS, AT RISK AND IN INSTITUTIONS
The main cause, according to the document that the Government of Montenegro published yesterday, in addition to entrenched social norms, perceptions and built-in discrimination, environment at home, in society and online, are also "inadequate legal solutions and their implementation that do not provide sufficient prevention and protection of children from violence, insufficient capacities of systems and institutions in the field of prevention of violence against children, mechanisms for reporting and support services for children and families in all sectors..."
"At this moment, the Montenegrin social and child protection system is faced with the problem of limited availability of support for families and children at risk or victims of violence, and the sustainability of existing services provided by NGOs is constantly under question," the Draft Strategy states.
In the health system, it is stated, Guidelines for the actions of health service providers with the aim of protecting children and adolescents from violence, abuse and neglect were developed, which were adopted by the Ministry of Health two years ago, but this important tool is not applied in practice.
"There is a lack of programs and services intended for children who are victims of violence and exploitation, as well as children who have psychological problems due to the use of psychoactive substances and who need treatment. Due to the lack of an institution for their treatment, these children are sent to hospitals for adults, and professional workers do not receive training. This practice causes great concern because it is a violation of children's rights and, instead of preventing it, exposes children to the risk of various forms of violence in institutions," the document emphasized.
Of particular concern is the fact that there is no specialized institution in accordance with the Act on the treatment of minors in criminal proceedings.
"In Article 28 of this Law, it is stated that 'for a minor with impaired mental development or with mental disorders who has committed a criminal offense, the court may, instead of the measure of referral to a non-institutional-type educational institution or an institutional-type institution, impose the measure of referral to a specialized institution where treatment can be provided and the training of minors'. The law has been in force since 2011, and there are still no conditions for the implementation of the measure envisaged by it, although there is evidence of a great need for it", it was specified.
VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS ON THE INCREASE
According to the document, the growing problem is violence in schools, that is, peer violence.
"This is especially the case with peer violence/violence among children in schools, which is carried out through communication technologies. The education system is currently not fully up to this challenge, since there is not a sufficient number of psychologists to support children and teachers, who would take care of the early identification of children at risk, types of violence...", the document states.
The members of the Working Group from several government departments, institutions and institutions are also concerned that "children approve of peer violence/violence among children and do not react to stop it".
2,46 million euros will be allocated for the implementation of measures from the draft strategy, of which 672.500 euros will be provided from donations, and the remaining, larger part, from the state budget
"Which indicates that their education on the subject of violence in some way did not give good results (the subject Civic education is no longer mandatory in schools). Education about children's sexual behavior, among other things in the online sphere, is not yet carried out in schools and the lack of this preventive component makes it difficult to protect children, which is why research has shown that a significant number of children in Montenegro seem to be either unaware of potential risks (29%) or is not entirely sure whether there are disturbing things on the Internet (34%), while only 37 percent definitely agree that there are things on the Internet that bother or disturb children of their age," warned the Draft Strategy.
THE SYSTEM HAS NO DATA, BUT NO ANALYSIS
The working group found that the problem is further complicated by the lack of systematic collection and analysis of data related to violence against children.
"Without such data, it is difficult to build and monitor an effective system that prevents violence against children. "Montenegro has committed itself to intensify efforts to prevent and protect children from violence... Given the constant presence of violence against children and the challenges that are still emerging, Montenegro continues to place this topic among its priorities," the draft strategy said. .
By identifying the key factors that contribute to the problems, the document is focused on prevention, and then on protection and intervention in cases of violence against children.
“Primary prevention will focus on approaches that are applied before violence occurs, to prevent the perpetration of violence or victimization. This part mainly focuses on prevention programs for children in kindergartens and schools and on parenting skills (strengthening of socio-emotional skills in schools, parenting programs...) whose aim is to influence the behaviors and causes underlying violence, namely differences in the degree of power based on age and gender," the document says.
Secondary prevention and intervention, it is stated, will focus on early intervention and response, intended for those who have one or more risk factors associated with violence against children, such as poverty, parents who use drugs or alcohol,...
"Tertiary prevention will focus on the response to violence against children, when it happened and when it is necessary to provide support and protection to child victims of violence from secondary victimization, support in resocialization and providing adequate legal support", it was explained.
The implementation of the strategy will be predominantly financed from the state budget.
"The action plan for the first two years of implementation overlooks the total budget of 2,46 million euros. Of that, it is planned to allocate 1.787.500 euros from the state budget in addition to current spending, and 672.500 will be provided through donor funds", it was specified.
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