REDES – Network for Social Development

REDES’ institutional mission is to strengthen/organize juvenile institutionalities through the theoretic-methodological conception of youth protagonist roles and popular education; sustainable community development as a break and an alternative to cycles of poverty; and protection for children and young people’s rights, increasing the level of awareness in society.

Created in 2005 by educators and liberal professionals, it currently has several youth groups from the neighborhoods where it works. The trajectory was initiated after the completion of a Rapid Participative Diagnosis in 13 communities in the outskirts of the city of Santo Antonio de Jesus, in Bahia, where there had been records of several aspects that hindered local development. This diagnosis has been the foundation for the design of other projects developed in the area, including government initiatives.

Context

Violence against children and adolescents is a cyclical phenomenon, which needs to be broken, increasingly demanding a serious and urgent response from society. Although Article 245 of the ECA (1) establishes the obligation of education and health professionals of communicating to the competent body any suspected or confirmed act of violence since 1990, educational institutions across the country have not incorporated this responsibility into their daily life, in serious breach of the rights of Brazilian children and adolescents.

The reporting of cases of violence, particularly sexual, is extremely low for several reasons, especially in Bahia’s Recôncavo, due to the markedly patriarchal culture, the strong taboo regarding this issue, and the fact that it involves people who are very close to the socio-affectionate environment of the child. The sub-notification prevents the design of appropriate protection policies, the interruption of the perverse cycle of violence and the adequacy of health services to meet those demands, and results in a severe violation of children’s and adolescents’ rights.

Project

The “Approved School” project aims to implement Article 245 of the ECA and build local systems of reporting of violence against children and adolescents and committees in all schools in Santo Antonio de Jesus. The idea is to articulate, raise awareness and train education professionals so that, through them, the school meets its responsibility of informing the tutelary councils and the Judiciary of all suspected or confirmed acts of violence.

The training will teach the education professionals to identify signs of violence, to use an approach that prevents re-victimization and to preventively instruct families. Partner institutions, such as health and social services of the city, churches, NGOs, the Tutelary Council, among others, will participate in workshops in order to consolidate a Network of Protection and Notification, establishing commitments for each member and Interinstitutional Cooperation Agreement. Representatives from schools in the city shall compose a Committee for Combating Violence against children and adolescents.

The people directly involved in the project will be: 300 professionals members of the education system in the city, and the 9,670 students – children and adolescents – and their families. Indirectly, residents of the communities and partner institutions will be involved.

(1) ECA is the Statute for Children and Adolescents (“Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente”).