''The Sexual Exploitation of Children in the Baltic Region''

 The Danish Ministry of Social Affairs Report from the seminar held in Riga on 5 and 6 October 1998

 Eastern Assistance Section 16 November 1998

Background

 In 1996 the topic of ''the sexual exploitation of children'' was placed on the international agenda for the first time with World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in Stockholm - organised by the Swedish government in close cooperation with UNICEF, ECPAT and the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 122 countries and NGOs committed themselves to an action plan against the sexual exploitation of children. At the meeting of foreign ministers within the Council of Baltic Sea States in 1997 the decision was taken to start cooperating on the problem and the Working Group on assistance to Democratic Institutions in special session (The Expert Group) under the CBSS was instructed to draw up a report containing recommendations and proposals for cooperation projects with the CBSS countries. The report from this Expert Group was ready in early 1998 and in it the Expert Group stated the following as a basis for its recommendations ·ð ''that the cooperation against commercial sexual exploitation of children within the CBSS is of the utmost importance and that it is a matter of urgency that this cooperation continues ·ð that an exchange of information and knowledge about the phenomenon and an exchange of law enforcement intelligence, drawing on the already existing cooperation in this field are of basic importance for the cooperation ·ð that a range of multilateral and multidisciplinary cooperation projects should be implemented on national, regional and local levels.'' The Expert Group's recommendation of cooperation projects against the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the Baltic region relates to seminars based on information and knowledge concerning the rights of the child. The purpose of the seminars is to increase awareness amongst the relevant decision-makers, law enforcement bodies and professionals concerning the commercial sexual exploitation of children. The seminars are also to provide a basis for the creation of networks and for continued cooperation in the region, e.g. in the form of exchange programmes. In the report - which mainly focuses on commercial sexual abuse of children in the Baltic region - the Expert Group proposes four different seminar topics: ''A: Multidisciplinary seminars at national and regional level with participants from parliament, ministries, central and/or regional authorities, responsible for questions concerning: police and public prosecutors, social services, child psychiatrists, school and day care, institutions and orphanages, health care, the tourist industry, media and NGOs. B: Multidisciplinary seminars at local level with participants from local authorities and professionals, responsible for questions concerning: the police, public prosecutors, social services, child psychiatrists, school and day care services, institutions and orphanages, health care, the tourist industry, media and NGOs. The seminars are aimed at providing professionals with knowledge about how to work with cases of sexually exploited children in their daily work and how to cooperate between sectors in consultation groups within preventive work and with rehabilitation measures. The seminars should give the professionals the possibility to exchange experience of efficient working methods and to establish multidisciplinary networks. C: Seminars on legislation/implementation of legislation with participants representing decision-makers from: the police, public prosecutors, judges in penal courts, NGOs. D: Seminars/courses on methodology in the work of the police and public prosecutors with participants from police academies, local and specialised police units, public prosecutors, medical experts, NGOs.'' In February 1998 the Danish Ministry of Social Affairs - following a request from the Foreign Ministry and the Baltic Council - offered to contribute experience on multidisciplinary cooperation at local level (topic B). Following discussion at the CBSS meeting in Copenhagen in February 1998 it was agreed that national seminars would be held which would be tailored to the needs of the individual country, and consequently the Ministry of Social Affairs invited all the member states of the Baltic Council to cooperate on the planning and organisation of such local seminars. At the same meeting Germany committed itself to cooperating with Denmark on the organisation and holding of seminars on topic B. Seminars/conferences The conference in Tallinn in September 1998 - which was organised by Norway, Sweden and Estonia - marked the first step in the work. At this conference politicians, civil servants and professionals commented on the overall political attitudes and initiatives which must characterise essential and pressing legal amendments concerning the training of doctors, psychologists, social workers, school teachers and the police, concerning cooperation across sectors and national boundaries - all in all, an expression of the will be required to change the situation and of recognition of the fact that the control of sexual abuse - particularly commercial sexual abuse - is a common responsibility across national boundaries. Amongst other things, the Swedish member of the European Commission, Anita Gradin, emphasised  to impress the fact that the rights of the child are an integral part of human rights - that there is a need for: ·ð giving prevention highest priority - all means must be taken into use internationally, nationally, regionally and locally; training, research and information are important tools in this connection ·ð action against the causes of abuse of children - both social and economic; poverty and underdevelopment provide fertile soil for the exploitation of children ·ð care and treatment of the victims - also on the part of judges, prosecutors and the police ·ð increased public awareness of the extent of child abuse ·ð revision of legislation so that all forms of sexual abuse are criminalised ·ð sufficient resources to enforce the legislation ·ð assistance to workers from voluntary organisations ·ð having the fight against the sexual abuse of children high on the agenda of the integration process in Europe. Following the Tallinn conference Sweden set aside resources under the auspices of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to follow up the decisions made at the conference. The seminar in Riga In work with abused children at local level, cooperation between the various professional groups from the police, health service and social services is of crucial importance. It is also important that experience is exchanged between the countries and that the countries involve themselves in multilateral, multidisciplinary cooperation projects. It is important that these projects take place at both national and local level, where they can form a basis for the development of regional networks. Consequently, and upon request from our Latvian cooperation partner, at the seminar in Riga we addressed the practical aspects of the need for increased knowledge and awareness concerning abused children - as an indirect way of fighting the widespread commercial sexual exploitation of children in the Baltic region. Staff from social services, from kindergartens and schools wish to have insight into discovering signs of sexual abuse for the purpose of intervening and helping the children on to a decent life. The police and prosecuting authorities wish to become better at preparing and pursuing a case with full respect for the child. And the media must learn to be interested in these cases - seen from the point of view of the child and those dealing with it - without causing more harm to the child than has already been done. We in Denmark have no patent answer to the above, but we have developed some methods relating to work on intervention and on providing support and assistance to children and families and we have some experience which we are pleased to pass on. Participants Doctors, psychologists, psychotherapists, educationalists, the police, prosecutors, the Welfare Ministry, ''child inspectors''. The participants came from all over the country. In addition, the following persons participated as guests: Elisabet Svedberg on behalf of the Swedish Ministry of Social Affairs, and the working party of the Baltic Council's working group on democratic rights, Erja-Liisa Petrova from ECPAT (End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism) and Ralf Harnisch from the German Ministry of the Family. Content of the seminar In order to prepare the way for reflections on the subject and to stimulate active participation, prior to the seminar we sent out case studies of four Latvian and one Danish case of sexual abuse of children. The cases described both ''traditional'' cases involving fathers abusing daughters, and that which is even more taboo  the abuse of boys by women. The speakers referred to the cases and they became a starting point for discussions in the group work. The mailing clearly seems to have served its purpose. Firstly, discussions were often intense and secondly, the feedback in connection with the material was very positive. Organisation of speeches The three speakers were particularly stringent; they kept to what was agreed, they kept to the agreed time and they projected well from the platform. The feedback clearly shows that they hit the spot as regards the specialist needs of the participants. We will briefly mention some of the angles touched upon here in the form of bullet points: - sexual abuse is a serious failure of care, a breach of the fundamental trust at possibly lifelong emotional and developmental cost to the child - we must give children self-confidence and security so that they can decline, say no and so that they do not allow themselves to be abused because of hunger for contact - we must listen to and talk to children so that the secretiveness which surrounds abuse is broken and the great burden imposed on the child is lightened; if we do not do so, we may create further trauma - there are no clear signals of sexual abuse; the signals are similar to signals of other failure of care - the picture of the perpetrator has become more differentiated - he/she is often yesterday's victim and needs help. The perpetrator needs to have contact with their own violation; punishment and treatment must therefore go hand in hand - it is important to disseminate information concerning the subject amongst people generally. It is important for professionals to learn about the subject, to be trained. It is important for children to have places where they can safely go with their problems - it is important to lay myths to rest. For example, the attitude: ''It's her own fault, she was asking for it by dressing like that'' must be changed through information - since sexual abuse is a symptom of the fact that something is very wrong - and since complex problems often lie behind it, it is important to have multidisciplinary and cross-sectional cooperation - the ''Danish model'' for questioning children who have been subjected to sexual abuse was examined, and gave rise to great interest amongst the participants, also amongst the representatives of the Latvian police It was a great advantage that a Latvian speaker also presented her and her working party's research investigation on the subject in Latvia - firstly because the investigation and the group thereby became known to the local specialists, and secondly it became clear that there are actually good expert resources to draw upon in Latvia. Group work and the plenary session Here the contributions were discussed and the cases brought in where relevant. In the last part of the group work the questions set were: What help is available for an abused child in Latvia today? How do we want it to be? And how can we get one step closer to this after the seminar? The participants were very keen to participate actively in the work. In the first two group sessions the groups had a multidisciplinary composition and in the last (concerning the work of the police) the participants were divided up according to specialist background. The police and legal experts were thus placed in the same group. Each group had a chairperson/spokesperson who gave a brief summary report of the group's discussion and put the group's questions. Particular questions were then put and a debate took place across the room. Evaluation of the seminar Following the seminar, Erja-Liisa Petrova from ECPAT made the following comments: ''To organise this conference on sexual exploitation of children was a big step forward and it was the first conference in Latvia about this issue. Persons working with children today need and want more knowledge about sexual exploitation of children and different forms of exploitation. I think that the conference was useful for all participants, but especially interesting for the Latvian side. After living so many years in a society without sex it is necessary to start taking the words in your mouth!...... Latvian participants were interested and eager to listen and learn more. They were really interested and wanted to discuss the issue. One of the best things that the Danish part did, was the way the seminar was carried out. Lecturers, including the police, were as ordinary people! No such words as how right we in Denmark do and you should learn!! During the seminar the red thread was cooperating and children. I believe that many of the participants have never thought about cooperating in the way they heard during the seminar. The tradition has been that you do your own work and nothing more.....'' Elisabet Svedberg from the Swedish Ministry of Social Affairs said: ''The various expert groups represented at the seminar all gave expression to the fact that the sexual abuse of children is a pressing matter in Latvia. _They spoke of the difficulties of cooperation between authorities and of the various levels of knowledge which exist within and between the different authorities_ The need for training as regards this matter is generally high within most of the professional groups. For example, the police would like training in how to talk to a child and how to cooperate with the families_ Those working on the treatment of children who have been subjected to sexual abuse talk about the short course of treatment which the local authorities are able to offer_ Unstable financing is a subject which comes up when these matters are discussed - both as regards equipment and in terms of training and further education. Above all, the Latvians want to acquire the knowledge and experience which other countries have concerning how authorities cooperate on these matters... The seminar was held in the form of a good dialogue in which the Danes succeeded in communicating their knowledge with great humility. The organisation of the seminar was held in great esteem by those attending, who took part in the discussions with great interest...'' According to the feedback from the Latvian participants, the seminar helped to increase professional awareness  possibly concerning the importance of multidisciplinary cooperation in particular. In the introduction we heard certain comments concerning the fact that the legislation in Latvia imposes many restrictions on radical problem-solving, that there is a lack of technical equipment at the police stations for the police to be able to question children in a proper way, that there is insufficient expertise, etc., etc. Along the way these comments were replaced by the expression of a belief that they would be able to establish cooperation across professional groups and that a great deal can be achieved with the existing resources. There are clearly many places in Latvia with good insight into the problem and a great will to want to solve it - however, there should be more professional self-confidence and courage to go across sectors and find the resources wherever they are. With a view to communicating the specialist content of the seminar and following-up around the country, the contributions of the Danish speakers are being translated and all the material will be printed in 500 copies. It emerged from the seminar that a group consisting of psychologists, doctors, lawyers and the police have formed an NGO, the purpose of which is to provide assistance to sexually abused children. However, the organisation still lacks the premises and office equipment to be able to function properly. It is the opinion of the Ministry of Social Affairs that this organisation could become an important driving force in the further work in Latvia - not least, the great exemplary value of so many professionals having got together. The seminar acted as a good opportunity to raise the profile of the centre, which can act as a anchoring body for the work in Latvia. As a bilateral event between Denmark and Latvia the organisation functioned well. Germany did not participate directly in the planning and holding of the seminar, but did contribute financially. Follow-up It is the clear opinion of the Ministry of Social Affairs  an opinion which is shared by both the Latvian organisers and the participants - that seminars of this kind are of great significance. It is important that the people who work on the problems on a daily basis get together to exchange experience and it is important to for them to have input from foreign colleagues with a different and broader base of experience. Naturally, a seminar is not enough to change conditions radically, but it is a start. It is therefore an obvious step to follow up the concrete events to which the discussions and ideas from this seminar have given rise amongst the participants. The Ministry of Social Affairs will bring up the subject in its ongoing cooperation with Latvia. However, there is a need for a lot of support in the continued work and suggestions of concrete initiatives from readers of this report would therefore be very welcome. The Ministry of Social Affairs believes that the idea of tailored seminars has proved to be tenable in Latvia and feels that the idea can advantageously be developed in connection with coming similar events in other countries. For the time being Lithuania, Estonia and Poland have notified that they would like seminars on Danish experience at local level and the Ministry of Social Affairs wishes to start planning these seminars - together with these countries - as soon as possible. [The programme for the seminar is appended]. Ministry of Social Affairs Children Rights - Denmark Protection Centre and Latvia Council of Baltic Sea States Initiatives Seminar on Sexual Exploitation of Children in Latvia RIGA, October 5th and 6th 1998. Monday, October 5th: 09:30 - 09:45 Opening of the seminar by Ms.Dorte Rievers Jensen, Ministry of Social Affairs - Denmark and Ms. Astrida Stala, Children Rights Protection Centre - Latvia. 09:45 - 11:00 Signals of sexual abuse ·ð what kind of signals ·ð how to read them ·ð who can read them Danish psychologist, Ms. Mimi Strange, Copenhagen, and Latvian psychologist Ieva Sprugevica Questions to the experts - plenary discussion 11:00 - 11:30 Break - coffee and tee 11:30 - 12:30 Group work based on Latvian cases on child abuse 12:30 - 13:15 Discussion in plenum 13:15 - 14:15 Dinner 14:15 - 15:15 How does sexual abuse influence the further development of the child ? ·ð Socially ·ð Psychologically ·ð Physically Questions to the experts - plenary discussions Danish psychologist Mimi Strange and Ieva Sprugevica 15:15 - 16:15 Group work 16:30 - 17:15 Discussion in plenum Tuesday, October 6th: 09:00 - 10:30 What kind of help is offered to the abused child ? ·ð Different kinds of help and intervention ·ð Preparing a  case ·ð What kind of part do the police play in cases of child abuse ·ð What happens to the family of the abused child, before/ under and after the case is being handled by the police and the court Questions to the experts - plenary discussions Danish psychologist Ms Mimi Strange and chief of police Mr. Jens Skov Madsen (the town of Holbæk) 10:30 - 11:00 Break, coffee and tee 11:00 - 12:15 Group work 12:15 - 13:15 Dinner 13:15 - 14:15 Discussion in plenum 14:15 - 14:30 Closing of the seminar by Ms. Astrida Stala, Director of Children Rights Protection Centre of Latvia and Mr. Oskar Plougmand, Ministry of Social Affairs, Denmark. 14:30 Surprise The seminar is part of the Baltic Sea States initiative against Sexual Exploitation of Children in the Baltic Sea Region. It has been arranged in co-operation between Denmark and Latvia and kindly co-funded by Germany. September 1998 <