Raising awareness to empower children in Eastern Europe

Image © Empowering Children Foundation

For over 30 years, Empowering Children Foundation (ECF) has worked to keep children safe across Eastern Europe, including working directly with children and families. Since 2008, the organisation has run helplines that children and caregivers can call if they need support. Professional and confidential help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The helpline has received over 1,400,000 calls.

“I was a 14-year-old child when I called 116111. I received professional help and the conversation, which took almost an hour, really inspired me. I think this phone call saved my life,” says one person who used the helpline.

Children are also supported in person. In 2004, ECF founded one of the first child-advocacy centres in Eastern Europe, based on the Barnahus model, in Warsaw, Poland. Barnahus is Icelandic for ‘children’s house’. The model has been designed so that children who have experienced abuse can access legal, medical, and psychological assistance in one place. Complex support under one roof allows children to receive coordinated support, and prevents possible trauma from them having to retell their story multiple times.

Since 2004, ECF has expanded its operations and now runs three child advocacy centres across Poland. These centres have provided support to over 4,000 children who have experienced violence, and 5,500 parents. Beyond running its own centres, the foundation coordinates a network of child advocacy centres in Poland, which trains other not-for-profit organisations on how to run centres themselves. Thanks to the network, there are now ten centres across the country, and training is underway in additional organisations.

Educating professionals
ECF also provides support for professionals working with children, such as teachers, social workers, and doctors. The organisation hosts a webpage compiling resources, and a magazine called ‘The Abused Child. Theory, Research, Practice’ provides free scientific studies and models of how to prevent abuse. In 2024, the 21^st Childhood Without Violence conference gathered 500 Polish professionals in Warsaw to discuss how to prevent and respond to violence.

ECF supports schools, nurseries, kindergartens, and other organisations working with children to introduce child protection standards. This is the first programme in Poland that works with staff to create policies and procedures to create safe environments for children.

Raising awareness about the risks children face
At the national level, ECF researches and raises public awareness around attitudes about children. This data allows ECF to discover the prevalence of abuse and attitudes surrounding it. When ECF first started its work there was a lack of data about child abuse and violence against children.

A 2024 study done by the organisation found that of the 845 students surveyed, 33 per cent had experienced sexual violence while participating in sports as a child. The report also gathered information on the impacts of experiencing violence, as well as whether victims came forward. This research allows the organisation to understand where further protections for children are needed.

Once ECF understands the scope of the problem, the organisation raises awareness about the steps that parents can take. Then, through the GADKI programme (which is Polish for ‘talks’), parents are provided with information to help them have conversations with their children about intimacy and body boundaries, including sexual safety. Brochures, worksheets, and animated videos at age-appropriate levels cover topics such as consent, and they also encourage children to seek help if they feel unsafe.

Since 2004, ECF has also shared information around the risks of online grooming, which is when an adult contacts a child online with the intent of sexually abusing them. Parents are provided with resources to teach their children about safe and unsafe relationships, and suggestions on how to respond if grooming does occur. ECF has also addressed issues such as: physical violence against children; the impact of technology on family life; and mindful parenting. ECF’s campaigns use a wide variety of mediums, including radio and television programming, flyers and brochures, and videos on YouTube. Some of ECF’s campaigns on topics such as parenting and preventing child sexual abuse have also been implemented in Moldova, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, and North Macedonia through partnerships with local organisations. While the core messaging remained the same, the information has been adjusted to national contexts.

“Thanks to this cooperation, partners from several countries in Europe have been able to strengthen themselves and now they are leaders in child protection,” says Beata Wojtkowska, vice-president of ECF’s Board.

Oak supports ECF through our Prevent Child Sexual Abuse (PCSA) Programme, and within that our strategic opportunity priority funding area. You can find out more about the programme by clicking here. You can read more about ECF here.