The International Center La Strada, in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Research, organized five workshops on the topic “Intervention of specialists from educational institutions in situations of online violence”.
125 school psychologists from Chisinau analyzed the extent and complexity of online violence in Moldova and discussed the actions of intervention by specialists from educational institutions in cases of online abuse.
“Since collaboration with the International Center La Strada began, for about 9 years, we have been able to provide advice and support in a professional way, La Strada offering the expertise of practitioners who deal with these cases day by day, who study, analyze and collaborate with different structures of the state and address the problem of online violence in different aspects,” said Angela PRISĂCARU, Senior Consultant of the General Education Department of the Ministry of Education and Research.
The seminar participants addressed the specifics of intervention in online sexual abuse situations. Particular attention was paid to the intervention plan in cases of online sexual abuse, based on case studies.
“The advice I shared with my colleagues psychologists is based on the experience of specialists from the International Center La Strada, who provide counseling to more than 2,000 children annually on various problems related to online communication. We also took into account the experience of the child support team – the lawyer and psychologist who accompany, in the criminal process, children who had an online sexual abuse experience,” said Victoria GRIBINEȚ, psychologist, specialist in online safety at the International Center La Strada.
“The role of the school psychologist is, first of all, to identify situations of online violence and to ensure intervention measures, advising the educational institution how to intervene correctly. The psychologist also has the role of being a spokesperson for the child and of reconfiguring the child’s experiences to everyone’s understanding, so that adults realize that it is necessary to address the child’s situation not only at that time, but also until his rehabilitation and integration,” said Lilia MAXIMENCO, interim head of the psycho-socio-pedagogical center of the General Directorate of Education, Youth and Sport.
During the practical workshops, participants addressed a number of recommendations to guide the response of psychologists in a situation of online abuse, ensuring measures focused on the interests and needs of the child.
“We received detailed information and worked on the practical side, studied and discussed various cases, step by step, which is very important in work, because there are nuances that we do not pay attention to or that we do not do correctly, at the right time. The facilitators provided us with necessary information and useful advice,” said Larisa Coraberu, psychologist of Universul Theoretical Lyceum, participant in one of the five workshops.
Situations of online violence can be reported to:
- the service www.siguronline.md, which provides information and online counseling to children and parents on any unpleasant situation the child encounters online, facilitates access to the services of the psychologist and lawyer in cases of online sexual exploitation and abuse of the child;
– Child’s Phone – 116 111, which can be called 24/24 regarding any form of violation of the rights of a child.
The child who has been subjected to a situation of violence will be involved in a lengthy process to overcome the situation or trauma caused by the abuse. For this, alternative services can be called:
– Youth Friendly Health Center;
– Psycho-pedagogical assistance services.