In the year 2017 “Center Dardedze” has launched a pilot project with a goal to develop a system of collaboration in cases of sexual violence against children – the so-called "Children’s house" or "Barnahus" model where child victims of sexual violence are interviewed at one specialized place. The model puts the rights and interests of the child at its centre and provides integrated and multidisciplinary support that focuses specifically on the importance of one-time interviewing of child victim for better investigation and judicial involvement in cases of sexual violence against children.
The General Director of the Icelandic Government Agency for Child Protection, Bragi Guðbrandsson, and the Director of Barnahus in Iceland, Ólöf Ásta Farestveit, visited Latvia to participate in a conference for professionals working with sexually exploited children and their families. The conference raised awareness among Latvian professionals of the Barnahus (“children’s house”) Model as a comprehensive way of working with sexually exploited children and their families. Both professionals also conducted a full-day training for psychologists on the forensic interviews of child victims and participated in a roundtable discussion at the Latvian Ministry of Justice.
First performed activities of a pilot project including shaping the methodology, mapping the existing practice and responsibilities of each involved institution, providing a platform for cooperation between the institutions and adjusting “Centre Dardedze” premises have led to important phase – performing interviews of child victims in accordance with standards of "Children's house" model.