Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
In Kyiv region 11 September PANDA was opened — a center for protection, advocacy, and recovery for children who have suffered sexual violence or witnessed it. This is the first center of this format in Ukraine where a child and their family can receive comprehensive help in one safe, child-friendly space.
The opening of the center took place with the support of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration. The founders of the center told 24 Channel the details.
What is known about the center’s features and activities?
First of all, the founders explained that the name PANDA comes from the English words Protection AND Advocacy. It reflects the main mission of the center — to protect the child, their safety and rights, and to provide the necessary support on the path to recovery.
There were cases when a child was interrogated more than a hundred times. Imagine: more than a hundred times a child went through this over the years. It’s simply horrifying. We can change this system, and it is already changing,
said Mykola Kuleba, CEO of the NGO Save Ukraine.
Opening of PANDA in Kyiv region / Photo provided to 24 Channel
PANDA will operate as a pilot community project and will implement a model of assistance built around the individual needs and best interests of the child.
Psychologists, social workers, lawyers, medical specialists, and representatives of law enforcement and the justice system will be able to coordinate their work at the center.
This approach allows the child and their family not to have to contact a large number of institutions on their own and not to repeat the story of what happened each time they interact with a new specialist.
Coordination among services helps reduce the risk of re-traumatization and ensures consistent support — from the first contact through recovery and protection of the child’s rights.
At PANDA, children and their families will be able to receive:
psychological and social support;
legal assistance and representation of the child’s interests;
medical consultation;
accompaniment during investigation and court proceedings;
conducting necessary procedural actions in specially equipped premises;
support within the framework of an individual recovery program.
If needed, a child will be able to temporarily reside in a shelter during the recovery program. It provides 30 bed-places. The center’s overall capacity is to provide assistance to up to 500 children per year.
The PANDA space is equipped with the needs of children of different ages in mind, as well as the principles of accessibility and inclusivity.
All rooms are designed so that a child who has experienced sexual or other violence can receive the necessary help in a safe, comfortable, and friendly environment.
Interaction with law enforcement and the justice system will play a special role in PANDA’s work. The center’s model foresees that necessary procedural actions and investigative measures will be carried out taking into account the child’s best interests and minimizing the risk of re-traumatization.
Child Rescue’s experience in helping children who suffered sexual violence
PANDA was created based on more than 20 years of Child Rescue’s experience in child protection. The organization has been helping children in Ukraine since 2005, providing specialized psychological, social, and legal assistance to children who suffered sexual violence and sexual exploitation.
Under the Child Rescue program, comprehensive assistance has already been provided to 185 children. In 18 cases, courts issued guilty verdicts and perpetrators received punishment in the form of imprisonment.
Experience in supporting children who survived sexual violence, protecting their rights during investigation and trial, as well as many years of cooperation among specialists from different fields became the professional basis for creating PANDA.
Part of the Save Ukraine ecosystem
PANDA was created within the ecosystem of Save Ukraine services. Child Rescue is an implementation partner of Save Ukraine and implements a specialized model of comprehensive assistance to children who suffered sexual and other forms of violence.
This assistance also concerns children whom Save Ukraine rescues from temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and from Russia. After returning, they may need a wide range of services to overcome the consequences of what they experienced, including psychological, social, legal, and medical assistance.
PANDA will complement this system by providing specialized support to children who experienced sexual violence or witnessed it.
Combining the experience, resources, and professional expertise of organizations makes it possible to create a space where a child and their family can receive the necessary services in one place, without having to coordinate help among different institutions themselves.
PANDA should also become an example of cooperation between state structures, local authorities, and public organizations in the field of child protection.
"Children’s issues cannot be kept silent and we cannot pretend this problem does not exist. We all must work so that children live with dignity," said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration.
The opening of the PANDA Center is a step toward developing a child protection system in Ukraine in which assistance is organized around the safety, dignity, needs, and best interests of every child.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Перший в Україні: на Київщині відкрили Центр допомоги дітям, які постраждали від насильства". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Channel 24.