Circular No. 23/2010/TT-LDTBXH dated August 16, 2010 of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs specifying the process for intervening in and supporting children suffering from violence or sexual molestation

CIRCULAR

SPECIFYING THE PROCESS FOR INTERVENING IN AND SUPPORTING CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM VIOLENCE OR SEXUAL MOLESTATION

Pursuant to the Government s Decree No. 186/2007VND-CP of December 25, 2007, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs;

Pursuant to the Government !s Decree No. 36/ 2005/ND-CP of March 17, 2005, detailing a number of articles of the Law on Child Protection, Care and Education;

The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs specifies the process for intervening in and supporting children suffering from violence or sexual molestation as follows:

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope and subjects of application

1. This Circular specifies the process for intervening in and supporting children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

2. This Circular applies to child protection and care officers, labor, war invalids and social affairs agencies at various levels. People s Committees at various levels and agencies, organizations and individuals engaged in intervening in and supporting children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

Article 2. Children suffering from violence or sexual molestation

1. Children suffering from violence are victims of any of the following acts:

a/ Humiliating, scolding, hurting the dignity and honor of. isolating, driving away or frequently imposing psychological pressures on children, hurting them mentally or causing adverse impacts on their development;

b/ Persecuting, maltreating, beating or committing other intentional acts that infringe upon children s health or life;

c/ Ill-treating children, forcing them to abstain from food or drink, leaving them in cold or raggedness. disallowing or restricting their personal hygiene; or forcing them to act against social ethics:

d/ Forcing children to work beyond their physical strength, work overtime or do heavy or dangerous jobs, jobs exposed to hazardous substances or jobs in establishments providing services which are easily abused for prostitution.

2. Children suffering from sexual molestation are victims of any of acts of obscenity, sexual intercourse, forcible sexual intercourse or rape.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

1. Offender means a person who commit acts of violence or sexual molestation against a child.

2. Intervention and support means activities aiming to prevent and eliminate the risk of recurrence of violence or sexual molestation against children: help children suffering from violence or sexual molestation rehabilitate their physical and mental conditions, resume their social interaction and re-integrate themselves into families, communities and schools.

3. Confidentiality of information relating to children suffering from sexual molestation means the non-disclosure of information relating to children suffering from sexual molestation, aiming to protect their best interests, except for the provision of information to competent agencies, organizations and individuals to serve the handling of offenders or the intervention and provision of support to these children.

4. Child in an emergency circumstance means a child victim of violence or sexual molestation who will further suffer from violence or sexual molestation unless timely intervention measures are taken, leading to a danger to his/her life, serious mental and physical injuries or adverse impacts on his/her normal development.

5. Child protection and care officers mean civil servants of state management agencies. public employees of non-business units, contractual employees, in-charge persons, collaborators and volunteers engaged in child protection and care at different levels.

Article 4. Principles of intervening in and supporting children suffering from violence or sexual molestation

1. To intervene and support child victims with appropriate and lawful measures for their rights and best interests;

2. To secure the confidentiality of information relating to children suffering from sexual molestation;

3. To secure continuity in intervening and supporting activities; to promote the role and enhance responsibilities of individuals, families, communities, agencies and organizations in intervening in and supporting children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

Chapter II

PROCESS FOR INTERVENING IN AND SUPPORTING CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM VIOLENCE OR SEXUAL MOLESTATION

Article 5. Steps

The process for intervening in and supporting children suffering from violence or sexual molestation involved the following steps:

1. Receiving information: preliminarily examining and assessing risks; implementing measures to assure temporary safety for children in emergency circumstances.

2. Collecting information, verifying and assessing specific risks to children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

3. Working out and adopting plans on intervention in and support of children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

4. Taking intervention measures and providing support.

5. Reviewing and assessing post-intervention and-support risks and reporting on intervention and support results.

Article 6. Receipt of information: preliminary risk examination and assessment: and implementation of measures to assure temporary safety for children in emergency circumstances

1. Commune-level child protection and care officers shall receive information on cases of violence or sexual molestation against children from all citizens and organizations.

2. When receiving information on a case of violence or sexual molestation against a child, commune-level child protection and care officers shall:

a/ Promptly and adequately record information relating to the case.

b/ Report the case to the chairperson of the commune-level People s Committee and coordinate with concerned individuals, agencies and organizations and the family, school, neighbors and friends of the child victim in examining the truthfulness of received information and. at same time, supplement relevant information through field inspection or phone calls.

c/ Conduct preliminary risk assessment for judging the current situation of the child.

d/ Coordinate with concerned agencies, organizations and individuals in implementing measures to assure temporary safety for the child in emergency circumstances before taking subsequent steps.

e/ Report the case to the district-level Labor. War Invalids and Social Affairs Section for guidance and assistance.

3. The receipt and recording of information, preliminary risk assessment and implementation of measures to assure temporary safety for children in emergency circumstances shall be made according to a set form (form 1 to this Circular - not printed herein).

Article 7. Collection of information, verification and assessment of specific risks

1. Commune-level child protection and care officers shall coordinate with concerned individuals, families, agencies and organizations in collecting information, verifying and assessing specific risks to children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

2. The information collection and specific risk verification and assessment covers:

a/ Collecting information relating to the living environment of the child victim (his/her situation in the past and present; his/her relationship with other family members, the offender and the living environment).

b/ On the basis of relevant information, assessing specific risk to the child victim of violence or sexual molestation so as to identify his/her problems and needs for use as grounds for elaborating an appropriate and effective intervention and support plan.

c/ Collecting evidence for denunciation against crimes which shall be used as grounds for functional agencies to handle acts of violence and sexual molestation against children.

3. The collection of information and the verification and assessment of specific risks shall be made according to a set form (Form No. 2 to this Circular - not printed herein).

Article 8. Elaboration and approval of intervention and support plans

1. Commune-level child protection and care officers shall coordinate with public security, justice, health and education officers and concerned organizations and associations in elaborating plans on intervention and provision of support to children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

2. An intervention and support plan shall be elaborated based on risk assessment conclusions and agreements of relevant officers, covering the following details:

a/ To-be-tackled problems of the child concerned, arranged in a order of priority:

b/ Needs for intervention and support in order to solve the child s problems one by one;

c/ Objectives to be achieved in order to solve the child s problems and meet his/her basic needs on the basis of available resources and capabilities;

d/ Measures to intervene and provide support and necessary resources for achieving the objectives;

e/ Specific responsibilities of individuals and units for coordination in providing support services.

3. Intervention and support plans shall be made according to a set form (Form No. 3 to this Circular - not printed herein) and submitted to commune-level People s Committees for approval.

Article 9. Implementation of intervention and support plans

1. Based on approved plans, commune-level child protection and care officers shall coordinate with concerned individuals, families, agencies and organizations in intervening and supporting children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

2. When conducting intervention and support activities, commune-level child protection and care officers shall:

a/ Monitor and supervise the implementation of intervention and support activities so as to promptly adjust these activities as appropriate:

b/ Mobilize communities, individuals and organizations to participate in supporting and caring for children suffering from violence or sexual molestation;

c/ Combine available services so as to meet the needs of children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

3. The monitoring and supervision of the implementation of intervention and support plans and implementation results shall be reported according to a set form (form No. 04 to this Circular - not printed herein).

Article 10. Review and assessment of post-intervention and support risks and reporting on intervention and support results

1. Commune-level child protection and care officers shall coordinate with concerned branches in reviewing and assessing the risks to children concerned after intervention and support activities are carried out.

2. The assessment of post-intervention and -support risk aims to come up with judgments and conclusions on his/her situation which shall be used as a grounds for the proposal of subsequent solutions:

a/ In case the risk of violence or sexual molestation no longer exists and the child s physical and psychological conditions, perception and feeling have been stabilized, commune-level child protection and care officers shall file the child s dossier and make a report thereon under regulations.

b/ In case the risk of violence or sexual molestation still exists and the child s physical and psychological conditions, perception and feeling have not yet been stabilized, it is necessary to further review and assess the risk as well as the results of previous intervention and support efforts and elaborate a plan on subsequent intervention and support.

3. The review and assessment of post- intervention and -support risks to children shall be conducted according to a set form (Form No. 5 to this Circular - not printed herein).

Chapter III

ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

Article 11. Responsibilities of provincial-and district-level People s Committees

To direct labor, war invalids and social affairs agencies and other concerned agencies to intervene and support to children suffering from violence or sexual molestation under this Circular within their management scope.

Article 12. Responsibilities of provincial-level Labor. War Invalids and Social Affairs Departments

1. To direct their sectoral units to comply with the process for intervening and supporting children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

2. To coordinate with concerned agencies in developing child protection services, aiming to step by step satisfy the needs for intervening and supporting children in emergency circumstances. To form children s social work centers and develop counseling lines linking child protection services.

3. To support the settlement of serious cases which fall beyond the capacity of commune- and district-level authorities.

4. To coordinate with authorities of the same level in directing, inspecting and supervising the compliance with the set process.

5. To report to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs on the situation and results of activities of intervening and supporting children suffering from violence or sexual molestation on a biannual and annual basis and make irregular reports upon request.

Article 13. Responsibilities of district-level Labor. War Invalids and Social Affairs Bureaus

1. To direct and guide commune-level authorities to comply with the process of intervening and supporting children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

2. To coordinate with concerned branches in developing child support services; to establish child counseling and support offices and coordinate with commune-level People s Committees in setting up community- and school-based child counseling and support points in their localities.

3. To assist the settlement of serious cases which fall beyond the capacity of commune-level authorities.

4. To coordinate with concerned agencies of the same level in directing, examining and supervising the compliance with the set process.

5. To report on a biannual and annual basis or upon request to provincial-level Labor. War Invalids and Social Affairs Departments on the situation and results of activities of intervening and supporting children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

Article 14. Responsibilities of commune-level People s Committees

1. To assign officers, prepare physical foundations and places for receiving information on children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

2. To conduct communication, mobilize and guide individuals, families and communities in detecting and providing information on children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

3. To direct the elaboration and approval of plans on intervening and supporting children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

4. To direct concerned departments and branches to develop child protection services; to set up networks of adult and child collaborators; and community- and school-based child counseling and support points in their localities.

5. To mobilize resources for the implementation of plans on intervening and supporting children suffering from violence or sexual molestation so as to reduce harms to them.

6. To file dossiers on the intervention and provision of support to children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

7. To report on a biannual and annual basis or upon request to district-level Labor. War Invalids and Social Affairs Sections on the situation and results of activities of intervening and supporting children suffering from violence or sexual molestation.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 15. Effect

1. This Circular takes effect 45 days from the date of its signing.

2. Any problem arising in the course of implementation should be reported to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs for timely guidance and supplementation.-