Action plan drafted to protect children
A national action plan is being drawn up by the government to address the shortcomings and flaws in Greece’s child protection system that were highlighted in the most vivid manner by the recent case of the rape and pimping of a 12-year-old girl in the Athens suburb of Kolonos.
The issue had preoccupied the government even before the shocking case was exposed earlier this month and had it had already drafted an initial plan at the end of summer for the protection of children from sexual abuse and exploitation. It provides for interventions at all levels of the administration: social services, education, justice, police, health.
According to official figures one in five children in the European Union have suffered some form of abuse, with the corresponding figure in Greece standing at 16%. Just 2% of the incidents, meanwhile, are brought to the attention of the authorities.
The plan is expected to be put to public consultation in the coming days.
Government sources have acknowledged that the multitude of laws, and the ambiguities and often contradictory provisions in the existing institutional framework, prevent the system from functioning efficiently. What’s more, even the specialized staff of the relevant services (like psychologists and social workers) have been reduced to a bureaucratic role.
“We have a welfare state oriented towards giving benefits, not providing services,” a government official said in reference to the new plan, which aims to facilitate complaints to the relevant authorities and agencies in order to break the taboo of tolerance and silence.
The difficulty of the project lies in the fact that 12 ministries (Education, Citizens’ Protection, Justice, Labor and Social Affairs, Interior, Health, Culture and Sports, Migration and Asylum, Development and Investment, Tourism, Digital Governance, Finance) are involved in its implementation – based on the current structure of services.
Government sources insist that the key to addressing the problems arising from the fragmentation of responsibilities between ministries and bodies is coordination through the creation of a single national protocol for the management of child abuse cases, which will define clear and specific steps and a sequence of actions of the services involved.
Those who work with children or come into contact with children on a daily basis, even if they volunteer their services, will be screened for crimes of a sexual nature without a statute of limitations period. Professionals who have frequent contact with children will be trained to recognize the symptoms of possible abuse and to know what procedures to initiate in the event of an incident.
