If a doctor identifies a case of child sexual abuse, this is obliged to inform the Children’s Rights Protection Division. It is also important for the child to enjoy maximum psychological comfort so that they feel safe. In this case, the doctor is their only reliable person. This is the message conveyed by a short film made by the National Center for Child Abuse Prevention (NCCAP) in cooperation with OWH Studio and with the financial assistance of the Council of Europe. The film centering on child abuse and child sexual exploitation was presented in a news conference at IPN.
Pediatric Society president Ninel Revenco, doctor habilitate, said it is important that this cooperation involves the local public authorities. The attitude of the community also matters as the neighbors, friends, people from the community can also identify a possible case of abuse, including sexual abuse against children.
The head of the National Center for Child Abuse Prevention, psychologist Daniela Sîmboteanu said that owing to the feeling of shame, the children who become victims of sexual abuse often hide this event in their life. This has serious repercussions for their mental and emotional state, manifested through the post-traumatic stress disorder. Most of the times, the child victims of sexual abuse feel ashamed and it is thus hard for them to tell about that traumatic event they experienced. Respectively, it is very important for a doctor, a healthcare worker to be attentive to all the symptoms that can signal an abuse and behave towards them friendly and offer them support.
The Head of the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau William Massolin said this video and other contents that will be produced in cooperation with the NCCAP will extend doctors’ knowledge of child abuse and child sexual exploitation and will contribute to improving their capacity to prevent, identify and report such cases. “I’m confident that all these activities will lead to the achievement of positive results in the field,” stated William Massolin.
“It is a message that terrifies us when we hear it, but we had to try and transmit it, in an artistic form. We managed to produce a good video and we are waiting for the reaction of everyone so that we see whether the message achieved its goal or not,” said producer Virgiliu Mărgineanu, director of OWH Studio.
Actress Lilia Cazacu, who played the role of a doctor, said that when she read several replies from the script for the first time, she realized that it is a sensitive issue and this should be treated cautiously. “I wish this film to have a positive impact and statistics to improve as they are painful for me, as a mother,” said the actress.
The film was made by the National Center for Child Abuse Prevention with financial support from the Council of Europe in the framework of the project “Combating Violence against Children in the Republic of Moldova”.
