1. Lene Mosegaard Søbjerg Alice Fredsgaard Thams
Implementation of Barnahus as response to sexually abused children in Greenland and Denmark
The concept Barnahus (or Children´s House) represents a child-friendly, inter-agency approach to child victims of violence and
abuse with a double aim of facilitating the legal process and ensuring that the child and family receive necessary support.
This poster compares the implementation of a Barnahus model in Greenland and Denmark.
Discussion
Saaffik and the Danish Barnahus originate from the same idea of providing a comprehensive collective response to child abuse within one house. However, the developments in Greenland and Denmark have gone in separate directions within the last few years.
Greenland has moved away from the one-house-model and now provides social services and police interrogation as separate services where the child lives. Denmark has established five centrally administered and situated houses where the child (and family) go to get help from all professionals inside the same house.
The difference shows that a response to sexual abuse in one context may not be the most appropriate way to deal with sexual abuse in another context. The adoption of a foreign model does not necessarily apply to all countries and situations. Finding inspiration in models of social work tested and implemented in other countries is important, but it is vital to adjust a model to the needs and circumstances of the population in question.
Denmark
Five Barnahus were established by law in 2013.
Each Barnahus covers between 11 and 29 municipalities. Some of the Barnahuse have several locations to secure accessibility from all municipalities.
The employees are social workers and psychologists.
Aim and tasks:
The aim is to give the abused child a coordinated and interprofessionel intervention in a child-friendly environment.
All municipalities are obliged to include the Barnahus in cases involving physical and sexual abuse, where two or more sectors (police, health and social services) are involved.
The tasks of the Barnehus are to:
Provide counselling and assistance to the social workers in the municipalities.
organise a coordinated meeting with all the professionals relevant to the case.
provide psychological crisis counselling to the child and family
facilitate police interrogation (video interview conducted by specially trained police officers)
provide an inter-professional assessment of the child to determine the child’s needs of support and treatment in order to qualify the child examination.
The overall aim is to contribute to a holistic view of the child.
Greenland
One Barnahus (Saaffik) was established in Saaffik covers all of Greenland.
The employees are social workers and therapists.
Original aim and tasks:
Police interviews and therapy took place at Saaffik while medical examinations took place at the hospital.
The tasks were to conduct examinations and investigations, offer crisis therapy, facilitate police interrogations (video interviews conducted by specially trained police officers) and follow up in cases of sexual abuse of children and youth.
Current aim and tasks: Traveling between towns and settlements are difficult in Greenland. These geographical circumstances within Greenland meant that Saaffik in practice only covered the capital of Nuuk.
Today, Saaffik has changed from being a house that the children visit, to being a central unit providing travelling teams which travel to towns and settlements where the abused children live. The teams examine, interview and deal with the children in their local environment.
Police interview take place at the local police station where the child lives and continue to be conducted by specially trained police officers.
Further reading:
Søbjerg & Thams (2016) Adapting a model of response to child abuse to the conditions in the circumpolar north, International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 75: 32713
Johansson et al (eds.) (2017) Collaborating against child abuse: Exploring the Nordic Barnahus model, Palgrave
Lene Mosegaard Søbjerg
Alice Fredsgaard Thams