Kochi: A child advocacy centre (CAC) and treatment centre should be part of the rehabilitation of abused children, according to Dr. Dafna Tener, professor at the School of Social Work and Social Welfare of Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.
The purpose of a CAC, as in Israel, is to get complete treatment for an abused child in a single place and minimise secondary trauma, said Dafna Tener, who has researched extensively on child sexual abuse.
She is now at Rajagiri College of Social Sciences at Kalamassery to speak on child sexual abuse at the 10th edition of the International Summer University in Social Work.
“The CAC is the first place where a child and his/her family arrives after a disclosure of abuse has been made. It is based on an American model and includes professionals such as a child protection officer, police officer, physician, prosecutor, social worker and housekeeper. The second one is the treatment centre, also known as the therapeutic centre. Here the victims and their families get emotional and therapeutic treatment,” said Dafna. There is also a special treatment centre for juvenile sexual abuse perpetrators.
Dafna has used the technique of using trained medical clowns on child abuse victims to positively impact patients of different age groups.
