Safeguarding Teenage Intimate Partner Relationships (STIR):

The perspective of the Bulgarian experts

Luiza Shahbazyan (Applied Research and Communications Fund) Christine Barter (University of Bristol)

Georgi Apostolov (Applied Research and Communications Fund)

15-18 September 2013 ISPCAN European Regional Conference on Child Abuse & Neglect

Dublin, Ireland

The organisation Applied Research and Communications Fund is a leading

Bulgarian innovation policy and research institute. Since 1991 we have supported the development of

information society through policy analyses, advocacy, capacity building and awareness raising.

Since 2005 we have been implementing the EC Safer Internet program in Bulgaria

Currently, we coordinate an integrated Safer Internet Centre with an awareness node, a hotline and a helpline that aims to create a better and safer internet experiences for children and young people.

The problem

Over 90% of the Bulgarian teens use internet on a regular basis, one in five has received nasty or hurtful messages (EU Kids Online, 2010). 50% of the inquiries to the national child helpline are about teen dating. However, prior to this initiative there isn’t any systematic assessment of the existing safeguarding mechanisms concerning date violence and related phenomena.

The aim

To map and evaluate the policy and practice in the area of teenage intimate violence and the degree to which the online context is addressed.

The method Design: workshop for experts, policy makers, practitioners and

other key stakeholders Stumuli: developed by the project partners, includes a set of

questions and a hypothetical case Procedure: Group discussion of the case followed by Q&A

session Duration: 3:30 h

Participants: 38 participants from various organisations including Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, General Directorate of National Police, district police stations, district offices on juvenile delinquency, State Agency for Child Protection, UNWE, Bulgarian Safer Internet hotline and helpline, the child helpline 116 111, the missing children helpline 116 000, other NGOs

NGOs

Participants3%

11%

32%

26%

29%AcademiaEducationLaw enforcementOther public institu-tuonsNGOs

Stimuli Anna’s teacher is concerned about her. She has found boys in Anna’s

class laughing over pictures of her on their mobile phones. The pictures show her having oral sex with a boy who looks much older than her. Anna is 15. The teacher has talked to Anna about the pictures. Anna says that her boyfriend took them and she doesn’t mind although she was upset when the boys in her class started laughing about them. She says that she didn’t know that everyone would see them. She doesn’t want her parents to know about them as they would be angry and might try and stop her seeing her boyfriend. She says that Mark, her boyfriend, is 19 and she really likes him although he sometimes laughs at her and tells her she is stupid. She says that he sent the pictures to friends because he was angry with her for spending an evening out with her girlfriends.

Findings: case discussion I Defining instances of partner violence involving internet and mobile

technologies Identified as interpersonal violence - psychological and emotional abuse,

evidence for sexual crime (dissemination of CAM) Identifying people in position to help

School team including the class teacher, the principal and the school psychologist/counselor to work with the target, the classmates and the family

Assessing needs Providing psychological support and family consultation, involving police to

track down and remove the harmful content Availability of relevant literature or literature

No written materials mentioned, discussions and individual consultations recommended

Findings: case discussion II Is it a child protection issue?

Definitely yes. Evidence for violation of target’s rights, she is entitled to services under multiple legal documents including the Child Protection Act and the Law on Juvenile Delinquency.

Existing guidance for managing the case Coordinating mechanism for counteracting bullying Coordinating mechanism for safeguarding children at risk The Child Protection Act School rules and regulations School child protection policy Job descriptions of the school personnel

What if the target is 13 years old? Sexual abuse is categorised differently in the Penal code for children under and over

14. In other acts there is no such distinction.

Findings: Q&A I Policy and practice initiatives on violence in teenage

intimate relationships Mostly initiatives by the NGO sector within projects for

prevention of bullying, cyberbullying and gender based violence targeted at young people and practitioners, mostly implemented as a one time event in schools and social services Prevention of virtual and real violence by interactive sessions in schools Schools without gender-based violence and stereotypes

No specific policy in place

Findings: Q&A II Professional training available

Mostly delivered by NGOs as one time events Methodologies developed by SAPI, GERT and Anymus to target relational

violence High staff turnover, so trainings for better qualification are not

sustainable

The teenage intimate violence in the media The public is not very sensitive towards this problem, tendency to blame

the victim Media tend to present stories in a sensational way

Findings: Q&A III Gender perspective in policies/measures

Recognized in measures against domestic violence No policy, several attempts were made to pass gender equality law unsuccessfully due to lack of

understanding of the issue Equality against the law does not guarantee gender equality

Are intimate partner violence cases addressed in prevention and intervention measures/policies? Law on domestic violence Social services for children and women victims of domestic violence National plan for prevention of violence 2012-2014 includes one of the NGO’s campaign against domestic

violence “Violence should not become tradition” within project “Childhood without violence” by SAPI It is not part of the prevention objectives of the police and offices on juvenile delinquency

Professionals’ understanding of gender perspective Most psychologists and social workers are sensitive, teachers are not Agreement that most victims are female and the impact for the target is enormous Domestic violence is the most familiar form, most likely to be addressed in campaigns

Concerns Lack of clear procedures to prevent secondary victimisation

of the target when multiple institutions have to intervene, existence of conflicting procedures, limited use of care proceedings

Existing coordinating mechanism for child protection but poor implementation

Numerous materials and practices developed by NGOs, no significant impact on political level

High staff turnover, which impedes continuous training Feeling helpless when dealing with internet crimes No political will to address the gender perspective

Conclusions Intimate partner violence is treated most often as type of psychological and

sexual abuse Low awareness of the specifics of online intimate partner violence, most

practitioners don’t feel ready to address it. Dealing with crimes that have online and offline components requires

multidisciplinary teams to intervene but existing mechanisms are not working

NGOs most active in the area offering a number of existing programs for prevention for students and professionals as well as social services to offer help and support to targets.

Lack of up to date findings that differentiate between types of meanness online.

No policy in place or any state initiated comprehensive measures to address the issue of teenage partner violence explicitly, either online or offline.

Questions?

Luiza ShahbazyanLuiza.Shahbazyan@online.bg

Applied Research and Communications FundProject website: http://stiritup.eu

www.ARCfund.net | www.Safenet.bg