The Minister of Social Rights, Carles Campuzano, inaugurated the new Barnahus Girona last March 14, which will be managed by Suara Cooperativa. The cooperative team guided the visit to introduce the facilities to the councilor and the invited authorities. This service will attend to children and adolescents from the Vegueria of Girona who have suffered sexual violence, and also their families. This is the sixth service, out of the 12 planned by the Government, after the piloting in Tarragona began in 2020.
Barnahus (children's house, in Icelandic) is a model of comprehensive care for victims of sexual violence where all the departments involved in a case coordinate and integrate to work under the same roof, far of police stations and hospitals, to create a friendly and welcoming environment for children and teenagers. In this way, it is avoided that the victim has to testify an average of four times in various spaces and in front of different people.
The Suara cooperativa team, made up of seven professionals, a coordinator, two social workers, two psychologists and two administrators, will begin this week to tend to the more than 40 cases referred to date.
The new Barnahus de Girona will allow for the integration of assessment, care, treatment and follow-up of any child and adolescent from the Girona regions who have suffered sexual violence, as well as collaborative actions between professionals also in prevention and detection of this chakra. "The aim is to create a friendly and welcoming environment, where the children feel safe and accompanied throughout the process. A comprehensive service that minimizes trauma and revictimization, which have already suffered such a painful experience", says Anna Vera, director of Barnahus de Girona.
The facilities have two separate waiting rooms equipped with furniture, toys, magazines, books, etc., suitable for the age and needs of children and teenagers. It also has a workspace for professionals; five rooms for interviews and to attend to families, children and teenagers; a forensic examination room for pre-constituted evidence; an observation room for viewing exploratory interviews; a medical examination room with bathroom; a space for Mossos d'Esquadra, a small kitchen and a space equipped for canine therapy.
During the inauguration of the event, the Minister of Social Rights, Carles Campuzano, mentioned the contradictory feeling that inaugurating these services implies because "in a welcoming and warm place like the Barnahus" it is evident "the worst crime that can commit" and at the same time "you can perceive the positive energy of the professionals and the desire to do things". He also thanked the participation of all the agents involved, in the Suara Cooperativa entity, and highlighted the complicity and collaboration of all of them for the launch of the service.
Regarding Suara's expertise and track record with children's services, Suara's co-director general, Tomàs Llompart, pointed out that "Suara's commitment to children has been clear since its inception, responding to vulnerable children, transforming problems in challenges, and these in solutions".
What is Barnahus?
Barnahus, la casa dels xiquets i les xiquetes is a project of the Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia that involves several ministries. The main driving force is the Department of Social Rights - through the General Directorate of Child Care and Adolescence -, in coordination with Health, Education, Interior, Justice and Equality and Feminism, in addition to the Prosecutor's Office and the Judiciary.
The center has the appearance of a home, so that children and their families recognize it as a friendly space that provides security and confidence. A full-time psychosocial team works there and, in addition, there are other professionals who travel there when necessary or who are connected by video conference to prevent the victim and his family from having to resort to the various authorities involved in these processes: police station, court, children's service, medical center, etc.
The objectives are, on the one hand, to ensure that children and adolescents are linked to a professional team - usually made up of a psychologist and a social worker - who are responsible for the development and recovery of the victims and 'accompany their families in this process. And on the other hand, minimize the contamination of the witness and guarantee the best conditions in case the criminal technical advisory team receives the task of carrying out a forensic interview for the pre-constituted evidence or judicial statement.
