In the last three years, the number of reported cases of violence against children in Bosnia and Herzegovina has doubled – it was pointed out at promotion of activities of projects implemented to prevent this type of violence.
The project coordinator of the non-governmental organization MFS-EMMAUS, Haris Karabegovic, stated that this shows that their activities contribute to the population recognizing and reporting such cases and being prosecuted.
He explained that as part of two projects implemented with the support of UNICEF, the Government of Sweden and Save the Children and through the activities of the Center for Safe Internet, they are working on educating children, parents and others how to recognize and report violence, and how to seek support for victims.
Unfortunately, due to this pandemic, children spend even more time on the Internet and thus become more exposed to violence – Karabegovic pointed out.
As part of the mentioned projects, the animated film “Violence against children”, the video clip “Stop violence in the digital environment!” Were shot, and the mobile application/game “Super Safe” and the memory game “Stay Safe” were developed and presented on Monday.
UNICEF Deputy Resident Representative in BiH Alwin Nijholt said that in recent years in BiH, additional attention and commitment has been paid to the fight against violence against children, but that there is still a gap between declarative commitment and taking concrete measures. Since the beginning of this year, in which we have all been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a growing concern that the number of cases of violence against children has increased, for which there is evidence – Nijholt emphasized.
