CIVIL SOCIETY & LOCAL AUTHORITIES > BELARUS
A new opportunity for young mothers and their kids
In recent years, domestic violence has reached the point of being a real issue in Belarus, due to social problems, growing unemployment, alcohol and drug consumption and also because of the loss of family support structures. The NGO SOS – Children’s Village Belarus has set up a Centre where women and their children in crisis can find refuge and be supported.
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Text by Vitaly Chuyasov Pictures by AFP © EU/Neighbourhood INFO CENTRE
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“Do not wash your dirty linen in public”: many European languages have sayings with a similar meaning. But women in Belarus - when they reach the bottom line - often wait till the very last moment before turning to specialised centres looking for help. A Women’s Crisis Centre had been established in 2007 under a family support programme run by a non-governmental organization, SOS – Children’s Village Belarus. Since 2010 the centre has been providing help to victims of domestic violence, as well as under-age mothers with newborn babies in challenging circumstances. In 2012 the European Union assigned the funds to support and develop the Crisis Centre in Mogilev, a region in eastern Belarus where - according to national statistics - every sixth woman is faced with one form or another of domestic violence. Embarking on assistance to such victims was a daring decision for SOS Children’s village Belarus, which was initially supposed to be focused only on supporting orphans or abandoned children. “Gradually, we came to the under- EU Neighbourhood Info Centre standing that domestic violence often leads to social orphanhood,” says Feature no. 134 Tetyana Burova, one of the SOS-Children’s Village project initiators. ”By This is a series of features on projects funded by the EU Regional providing protection and support to women at an early stages of their Programme, prepared by journalists household problems, we prevent the situation from developing to the and photographers on the ground stage when it becomes necessary to isolate children from their families.” or the EU Neighbourhood Info Centre. For Belarus this is, regrettably, a widespread practice. In 2006, a num- © 2014 EU Neighbourhood Info Centre
A new opportunity for young mothers and their kids
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre – Feature no. 134
ber of legal initiatives were undertaken in the country directed at enhancing state control over disadvantaged families with children. There are about 80,000 new marriages registered in the Republic annually, and at the same time there are 15,000 families with children in precarious position about to be sent to social institutions. Statistics show a gloomy picture of violence within Belarus families. Officially, 12% of women aged 15 to 49 have experienced violence on the part of their current or former partners, while in the Mogilev region this figure rises to 16%. But the figures could be even higher. N Pavel Kazyuko, the Children’s Village director, plays with the kids.
“By providing protection and support to women at an early stages of their household problems, we prevent the situation from developing to the stage when it becomes necessary to isolate children from their families.”
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“ We came to the understanding that domestic violence often leads to social orphanhood”
A normal life for children SOS-Children’s Village Mogilev is made up of tidy, light coloured houses with common green areas, paths and playgrounds between them. Each house is intended for 6 to 7 children of various ages. They are looked after by an “SOS Mother”, who has gone through a strict selection process and long-term training. As distinct from the boarding school orphanages which were prevalent across the former USSR, children in the Villages are not separated from real life: they go to ordinary schools, sport and arts clubs, while their SOS-Mothers cook for them very similar meals to those that are offered to their peers coming from ordinary families. “SOS-Mothers, who have extensive life experience and who are engaged in long-term wardship, are good neighbours for young mothers who have found themselves in a difficult life situation,” says Pavel Kazyuko, the Children’s Village director. These young women find shelter in one of the cottages. Up to five underage or young mothers with newborn babies can live there for a period of up to six months. One of them, Nadya S. agrees to share her life story: “For five years I lived with a man, then I got pregnant. He went to Russia for work, because he could not find a job here. So I shared the flat with his uncle, who is an alcoholic and I was often victim of his attacks with a knife, when he was drunk. The place was in a horrible state. After I had my daughter, I moved out with a friend, then the paediatrician told me about the Crisis Centre and sent me here – my daughter was just two weeks old… We have been here for ten months now. During this time, we managed to get an apartment in a hostel, which is now being refurbished. All this became possible thanks to this Centre. My daughter’s father has agreed to support us only if we join him in Siberia. But I am afraid to go there with my baby, it’s a strange country with inadequate health care. I have no rights there…” Other girls’ stories are different from Nadya’s, but what they have in common is the fact that mothers with children are often left without a place to live or means of subsistence, surrounded as they are by the unfriendly relatives of their partner. Some of them are even victims of domestic violence: after the threats and the brutality, what is needed to regain hope in life is attention, support by understanding people and secure shelter. Which is what the project is trying to provide.
The scar of violence is difficult to heal As a rule, co-operation with a future beneficiary starts from a call on the hotline, which is answered by a psychologist. The Centre’s work is based on a differentiated approach: there are women who need practically everything, starting from an accommodation, and women who are comparatively well
N Children go to ordinary schools, sport and arts clubs, while their SOS-Mothers cook for them.
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre – Feature no. 134
“SOS-Mothers, who have extensive life experience and who are engaged in long-term wardship, are good neighbours for young mothers who have found themselves in a difficult life situation”
A new opportunity for young mothers and their kids
off, but still require psychological or legal advice. In each case, the family development plan is worked out, which includes different types of support based on the evaluation of individual needs of the woman and her children. Some women find out about the Crisis Centre partner organisations, including the state social welfare centres. This is the case of Tatyana K. Because of difficult family circumstances, she was alone to take care of 3 young children, making a living with the equivalent of €70 per month. Tatyana confesses that she burst into tears during her first visit to the centre, when she realised that she would not have to collect any extra documents, and that she would be given support, including financial aid. Now, after she has participated in the project for almost half a year, Tatyana talks excitedly about how her whole family has changed, how the new friends helped her to find extra earnings and how well her children like the festivities organised in the Village for all kids.
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N Young women can find shelter in one of the cottages: up to five underage or young mothers with newborn babies can live there for a period of up to six months.
Crisis support and prevention of violence and abuse on women and children in families in Mogilev city and surrounding The specific objective of the project is to improve services and capacities of Mogilev city and surrounding, to protect women’s rights and to support women and their children in crisis situations and in case of domestic violence. The project is implemented in co-operation with local authorities of Mogilev city and Mogilev region, as well as main State structures which work in sphere of social welfare. The applicant is SOS-Kinderdorf ( Austria) and the local partner is SOS Children’s Villages Belarus. Find out more EU Neighbourhood Info Centre thematic page: Civil Society & Local Authorities www.enpi-info.eu/themeeast.php?subject=14 EU Neighbourhood country page: BELARUS www.enpi-info.eu/countryeast.php?country=58
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre An ENPI project The EU Neighbourhood Info Centre is an EU-funded Regional Communication project highlighting the partnership between the EU and Neighbouring countries. The project is implemented by Action Global Communications.
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