Seminars on the prevention of violence against minors in the church environment

"Acts of a sexual nature against a minor using authority, trust or influence, even with their consent, are violence. That's why offenders take advantage of prior acquaintance. The child may think that, of course, this good person cannot do harm, he or she asks for certain touches or actions, so it is not something evil," said Ivanka Rudakevych, project and program manager of the UCU Center for Child Dignity, during the training for church representatives.

Ivanka Rudakevych and hieromonk-psychologist Sava Masnyk conducted a series of seminars on the prevention of violence against minors and vulnerable persons for the clergy of the Ivano-Frankivsk Archeparchy of the UGCC, the Lutsk Exarchate, and for students of the Redemptorist Church. The clergy of the Donetsk, Odesa, and Kharkiv Exarchates of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and the Kamianets-Podilskyi and Chernivtsi Eparchies of the UGCC were also covered by online training.

The knowledge gained contributes to a better understanding of the impact of traumatic events on children, how to support victims of violence, and how to promote safety for minors in the church environment.

The training includes information about the church's experience in preventing violence, the main documents that guide the church in protecting minors, types of violence, and the mechanism for responding to cases of sexual abuse that occurred in the church environment.

The seminarians and priests learned how to talk to a victim, received basic recommendations for conducting such conversations, algorithms for post-reporting actions, and learned about the preliminary church investigation, as well as contacts of assistance services to refer victims.

We are grateful for the cooperation, for the discussions and lively debate among the participants.

The UCU Center for the Dignity of the Child conducts training for all dioceses of the UGCC on the prevention of violence against children and vulnerable persons in the church. Our website has the necessary materials that can be used in the work, many opportunities for training, as well as an algorithm of actions in case of reporting violence.

We offer training opportunities for parishes: https://cdc.ucu.edu.ua/uk/opportunities/?area_tag=cerkva&type_tag=
Resources - videos and materials for use in your work: https://cdc.ucu.edu.ua/uk/resources/?area_tag=cerkva&type_tag=
If you are a victim or witness of violence or if your loved ones need help, here are the church contacts you can contact: https://cdc.ucu.edu.ua/uk/if-you-are-injured/?fbclid=IwAR3DGp-r0xIDR2SC_Y5ZjwsKAM6h0NLp0MJ2cMgovXqrD0wFQgu2yHvlWFE