PROMISE
The PROMISE projects aim at promoting and supporting the Barnahus model for meeting the needs of child victims of violence, providing them with access to justice, avoiding re-victimization and ensuring high professional standards for recovery.
Recent and ongoing Promise Projects
Promise Elpis: Adapting Barnahus processes for online sexual violence cases
Drawing on our collective experience in promoting and implementing excellence in practice in Barnahus, this project promotes multidisciplinary and interagency models for child victims and witnesses of sexual violence, with a specific focus on specialised interventions and excellence in practice in cases where there is a presumed online element of the sexual violence. The overall objective is to ensure early identification, adequate assistance, protection and access to child-friendly justice, with specific emphasis on cases where online technology is an integral element to the abuse, by:
Contributing to a competent and committed multidisciplinary teams, equipped to provide a holistic and balanced intervention, including investigation and assistance
Supporting specialised professional interventions and operational capacity, adapted to the specific requirements and needs that may arise in the context of cases involving some form of online child sexual violence, and
Contributing key experience and learning from the project to regional policy development and exchange, in particular in light of ongoing European Union strategies relevant to the field, and proposed revision of European Unions instruments.
A key focus of the project is to develop and evaluate protocols and procedures, to contribute to a committed and competent workforce, and to promote holistic interventions that benefit from effective interagency case management to ensure that victims in the context of online child sexual violence receive appropriate and holistic support.
Partners & Funding
Charité (Coordinator), AvBIT, The PROMISE Barnahus Network via the Council of the Baltic Sea States, Children at Risk,
Child Circle, Children 1st, HEUNI (The European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations),
National Children’s Advocacy Center USA
UKHD (Childhood Haus Heidelberg), Germany)
“PROMISE Elpis” is funded by the European Union through its Internal Security Fund (ISF) program, with partner co-funding.
Read more about the project and our partners here.
Promise TRM: Multidisciplinary interagency services for child victims of trafficking
The TRM project has focused on the specific needs of child victims of trafficking and exploitation.
PROMISE TRM aims to make the justice process more child-friendly by improving the skills and capacity of those involved in dealing with cases of child trafficking and exploitation, especially those with a transboundary component. The project also aims to improve cooperation between different authorities and actors handling these cases in the BSR, to facilitate transnational professional exchange including cross-border admissibility of evidence.
The project has worked on creating standards and guidelines for handling child victims of trafficking in national and transnational referral mechanisms. It has also focussed on adapting the Barnahus model specifically to meet the needs of child trafficking victims.
Partners & Funding
Council of the Baltic Sea States, Child Circle
PROMISE TRM is funded by the European Union with partner co-funding. Read more about the project and our partners here.
PROMISE Soteria: Promoting inclusive and resilient child protection systems
PROMISE is working to strengthen national child protection systems and Barnahus specifically by a) strengthening national practice of well-functioning, accessible and resilient child protection systems that are adequately structured and equipped to function to protect children, including in periods of crisis and emergencies such as the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Russian invasion in Ukraine, b) strengthening the national child protection system’s ability to work on transnational cases, including in cases of third-country children seeking protection within the EU or unaccompanied children moving from country to country within the EU, and c) enhancing the contribution of Barnahus as one important component of the broader child protection systems, whilst promoting excellence in practice in referral, assessment/screening, support, coordination, protection and follow up in cases of violence against children.
Partners & Funding
CBSS Children at Risk (Lead partner), Child Circle, Marie Cederschiöld University. PROMISE Soteria is funded by the European Union with partner co-funding.
Read more about the project and our partners here.
Promise projects are funded by the European Union, with co-funding by partners.
What is a Barnahus? Read more here
Child Circle’s role in the Promise projects has focussed on developing the Barnahus Quality standards and promoting the procedural safeguards for children in EU law through publications such as:
European Barnahus Standards
The PROMISE Compendium on Law and Guidance: European and International instruments concerning Child Victims and Witnesses of Violence
The PROMISE Advocacy Guidance to promote progress on Barnahus
At the Crossroads: Exploring changes to criminal justice proceedings when they intersect with child protection proceedings in cases involving child victims of violence
In particular, Child Circle contributed specialised expertise to activities such as the roundtables, development of national roadmaps, judicial workshops and the webinars. Currently Child Circle is providing a curriculum on international and European law concerning safeguards for children in forensic interviews in particular. We are also actively building knowledge in the field, through exchange of good practices and challenges.
PROMISE is managed by the Council of the Baltic Sea States Secretariat (Children at Risk Unit). Over the course of the three Promise projects, it has included partners from all across Europe. It also builds on the expertise of prominent specialists in law, sociology, pediatrics, psychology and psychiatry from different European countries.
PROMISE receives co-funding from the European Union through the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014-2020) of the European Union.