Empowering Law Enforcement in Overcoming Online Violence against Children
The project is implemented with the financial support of the European Union
Implemented by:
All-Ukrainian Charity “Child Well-Being Fund Ukraine”
All-Ukrainian Public Centre “Volonter”
NGO "Labour and Health Social Initiatives"
Duration of the project: 36 months (January 2022 – December 2024)
Project regions: Ukraine – Kyiv, Vinnutsia and Lviv oblasts. After piloting activities in three regions, we will share the experience and findings of the project with law enforcement bodies and local authorities throughout Ukraine.
Short description
The project «Empowering Law Enforcement in Overcoming Online Violence against Children» is based on the recognition of the priority of protecting children, as one of vulnerable groups, from various forms of violence, including cyber violence, as well as the need to take all possible measures to ensure their safety. This means that the project actions will enhance law enforcements and CSOs capacities to ensure digital right of children and to create effective modern tools to respond to child abuse on the Internet.
The project will also reinforce the role of CSOs in upholding high standards and policy for better governance in the field of overcoming online violence against children and ensuring their safety in cyberspace.
Thus, the project overall objective is to mainstream modern standards and efficient tools in the law enforcement reform in Ukraine to ensure safety of children in digital world.
To achieve that protect team identified two specific objectives:
- To equip law enforcement professionals and service providers with the knowledge and capacity to address online abuse of children
- To improve multi-sector cooperation in preventing, and responding to online abuse of children in Ukraine
Project components and planned activities
Strengthening the capacity of law enforcement professionals to build effective up-to-date response to online child abuse. The component provides for the following:
- situational analysis on online child abuse in Ukraine;
- development and piloting preventive programs for various age groups of children to be applied by law enforcement;
- adapting international experience in providing modern standards in initial and in-service training of law enforcement professionals to address online child abuse;
- piloting the program of initial and in-service training for law enforcement professionals together with Universities of Infernal Affairs in three pilot regions;
- developing and piloting e-learning courses on prevention and responding to online child abuse for law enforcement agencies;
- providing consultation and supervision support to law enforcement professionals to ensure online safety of children.
Development and implementation of a child-friendly mechanism for reporting violence on the Internet. The following activities are planned for this purpose
- setting up the complaint’s online mechanism (Child Complaint Platform - CCP) to address online abuse towards/among children;
- providing technical and consultation support to the National Police Office to operationalize CCP;
- developing and implementing the communication strategy for children aimed at prevention and using complaint mechanism
- promoting the complaint mechanism among children and relevant stakeholders in three targeted regions.
Development of local policies and mechanisms for cooperation on combating violence against children on the Internet. The following activities are planned within this component:
- developing oblast strategies on digital safety of children in pilot oblasts;
- developing and Implementing action plans to put into practice the strategies at the local level with active involvement of at least 6 CSO-s through the sub granting;
- training service providers and local stakeholders to address on online child abuse at local level.
At the final stage of the project it is planned to focus on distribution lessons learned and best practices of the project (case study, life story, final conference).