“Center Dardedze” was founded 24 years ago. Since then we have accumulated extensive experience and knowledge, but at the same time we must keep up with the times and be open to new ideas. Where can we find them?
While following the current events in the field of child protection in the world, some time ago we noticed an active Finnish non-governmental organization “Protect Children”, which implements both significant research projects and ambitious preventive activities to protect children from sexual abuse.
Thanks to the support of the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia, we – representatives of the management team, prevention and consultation department – went to Finland to exchange experience and look for cooperation opportunities.
In Helsinki we were warmly welcomed by the “Protect Children” team – despite the small number of employees, the organization’s achievements are truly impressive. It seemed especially important that all preventive projects are based on research, while educational activities make extensive use of the opportunities provided by modern technologies to reach a wide audience. The “Our Voice” survey on the experiences of people who have experienced sexual abuse has even gained a global scale.
We also discussed possible cooperation regarding specific preventive projects, including:
- The “Stop – slow – go” program successfully reaches school children with educational online lessons.
- The “My friend too” program provides advice to children who have been told about experienced sexual abuse by a friend – another child.
- The “Redirection” self-help program effectively addresses people who search for child sexual abuse material on the Internet.
- The “You are enough” program offers guided self-help support groups for parents whose children have suffered sexual abuse, but the parents also experience it as a psychological trauma.
These are just some of the projects that would be very useful and significant in Latvia as well. Thank you to the inspiring team of the organization and the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Latvia for the opportunity to lay the foundations for closer cooperation – we feel that it has only just begun.
Protect Children website: https://www.suojellaanlapsia.fi/en