Why Bairns Hoose
In the simplest terms, the Barnahus (called Bairns Hoose in Scotland) can be described as a child-friendly house where all the professionals come together around the child, rather than the child going to different services, in multiple locations.
The purpose of a Barnahus is:
- To ensure that children and young people who have been victims and witnesses of abuse or violence receive appropriate assessment, treatment and support from the moment they disclose abuse, or abuse is suspected or alleged.
- To avoid subjecting children to multiple interviews by different agencies in different location.
- To ensure high-quality evidence is collected to inform both legal and protective measures.
The development of Barnahus
Inspired by American Child Advocacy Centres, the Barnahus is described by founder Bragi Guðbrandsson, Iceland’s Member of the United Nation´s Committee on the Rights of the Child and former Director General of Child Protection, as "a conscious attempt to synthesize the sophisticated investigative tradition of the US and the Nordic welfare tradition, based on the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)".
The Barnahus model is underpinned by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989) and supports implementation of a range of guidelines and laws including: Council of Europe Guidelines on child-friendly justice; Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (known as the Lanzarote Convention) and the European Convention on Human Rights.
The success of Barnahus for child victims and witnesses of violence in Iceland led to implementation by other Nordic countries, Sweden in 2005, Norway in 2007, Greenland in 2011 and Denmark in 2013. Now Barnahus is being adopted across Europe. The coordination and implementation of Barnahus across and within countries is adapted based on pre-existing structures, regulatory frameworks and cultural, geographical, or demographic differences.
The Barnahus model is based on the following principles as set out in the European Barnahus Network’s Barnahus Quality Standards: Guidance for Multidisciplinary and Interagency Response to Child Victims and Witnesses of Violence:
- Respect for the participatory rights of the child by ensuring that she/he is heard and receives adequate information and support to exercise these rights.
- Multi-disciplinary and interagency collaboration during investigations, procedures, diagnostic and needs assessments and service delivery, to avoid (re)traumatisation and securing outcomes that are in the best interests of the child.
- Comprehensive and accessible services that meet the individual and complex needs of the child and their non-offending family or caregiver.
- Ensuring high professional standards, training and adequate resources for staff working with child witnesses and victims of violence.
One of the central motivations underlying Barnahus was the child’s views were not being heard, either at all or satisfactorily, in judicial and administrative proceedings (Article 12, UNCRC). There was recognition that the environments in which children were disclosing violence were often inadequate and retraumatising and did not secure the best evidence for proceedings. The Barnahus aims to provide the optimum conditions for children to feel safe, informed and supported to disclose the hurt or harm they have experienced or witnessed.
In the Barnahus there are “four rooms” and these rooms provide all the services a child and family need to support them through their journey from disclosure to recovery. These rooms are: criminal investigation, child protection, physical health (including non-acute forensic examination) and mental health and recovery support.
The ‘roof’ of a Barnahus provides expertise through collaboration, consultation, training and awareness-raising about a child's rights to a non-violent childhood.
Image credits: Lee Boyd Architects and Will Scott Photography.