Experience of “green rooms” in Rivne Oblast: how successful practices are spreading to other regions
Exchange of experience, networking and dissemination of successful practices is one of the strategic areas of work supported by the Ukrainian Women’s Fund. It is important for us that activists and NGOs from different parts of Ukraine not only work in their communities, but also learn from others and implement it in their communities.
In July, members of the 1325 coalitions from Khmelnytskyi, Zaporizhzhia and Kyiv visited their colleagues in Rivne Oblast to see how they had set up green rooms and learn from their experience to set up similar rooms in their regions.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the number of cases of domestic violence against women has increased dramatically. Children usually witness this, which has a negative impact on both their psyche and their mother’s condition. Thanks to the introduction of green rooms, the process of interviewing a child as a witness becomes less traumatic for them. The interview is conducted in specially created child-friendly conditions that minimise and prevent repeated trauma to the child’s psyche.
Although the rooms are equipped at the National Police, a team of specialists works with the child, including a professional psychologist who has undergone special training and is certified to work using the green room method. The psychologist, at the request of the National Police, uses special techniques to interview the child to find out the necessary facts and avoid retraumatisation.
Currently, there are 10 green rooms in Rivne region, and another 9 are planned to open in the near future. The green room methodology is still underrepresented across the country. There are 14 in Kyiv, and only 3 in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
There are none in the Khmelnytsky region, which is why the members of the 1325 Coalition initiated a study tour to share their experience. After this trip, they quickly developed a project concept, received a grant, and already have the funds to equip the first green room in Khmelnytskyi Oblast.
During the visit, the participants exchanged practices implemented in the pilot oblasts, discussed shortcomings and thought together about possible solutions. Sometimes these discussions were quite heated but friendly.
“The expectations from the visit were more than met, it was thorough and useful. The most interesting thing was the knowledge about the technical content and the algorithms of work,” shares her impressions Tetiana Huranska, municipal consultant of the United Nations Population Fund in Khmelnytskyi.
The green room interview is the first interview with a child immediately after a crime or incident. During this interview, it is important to create an atmosphere of trust, which is why it is conducted in a specially equipped room with toys and other playful attributes where the child feels safe and relaxed. From the next room, representatives of the police, lawyers, and prosecutors conduct video surveillance and record the conversation, which contains the child’s testimony and serves as evidence in court.
The exchange visit was attended by juvenile prosecutors, a representative of the Juvenile Prevention Unit of the National Police, the head of the Kyiv-based specialised service for primary social and psychological counselling for victims of domestic violence, a psychologist supervising the Register that certifies psychologists to work with the Green Room methodology, representatives of the prosecutor’s office, a representative of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, employees of social services and services for victims of violence, and leaders of civil society organisations.
“It was valuable for me to get to know my colleagues and find out what equipment (apps, headphones, radio broadcasts, CCTV cameras) they use. The most effective is close cooperation between different structures: the police, social institutions and services,” says Oleksandra Skoromna, Deputy Director and Head of the Specialised Primary Social and Psychological Counselling Service for Victims of Domestic and/or Gender-Based Violence at the Family Centre of the Darnytsia District of Kyiv.
The visit was part of the project “Her Strength: Supporting Women in Ukraine in Times of War and Recovery” implemented by the Ukrainian Women’s Fund in partnership with the NGO La Strada-Ukraine with the support of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL).
