Scores of mistreated children, as well as battered women, have benefited from a unique Public Prosecution initiative to help victims slowly recover from the trauma of their ordeals.
As the courts deal with the offenders, the ‘Reaya’ programme (the Arabic word for ‘care’ in English) ensures the people who have suffered are not forgotten.
Believed to be the first-of-its-kind project in the region, so far more than 100 victims have benefited from specialised assistance since its launch last December – 63 children, three women and nine families – and there are currently 55 people receiving help.
The Family and Child Prosecution Chief Prosecutor Ahmed Alfadhel said that the programme has already been deemed a great success as he took the GDN on a tour around specialised rooms set up to help children on the path to recovery from mistreatment and sexual abuse.
“It’s a unique initiative and Bahrain is always keen on being creative in improving its judicial structure,” he told the GDN.
“We want to share this experience with other countries, especially neighbouring countries, which we believe will benefit them.
“There is no limit to the help we can provide victims of crime and each case is unique. We work out the best way they can benefit, in co-ordination with our partners in the initiative.”
The Public Prosecution, with the help of social service experts and psychiatrists, view all cases of mistreatment, including women suffering from domestic abuse, ill-treated children and families on the brink of collapse.
Other bodies involved in the initiative and playing an active part are the Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Ministry, Interior Ministry, Social Development Ministry, Health Ministry, Education Ministry, Housing Ministry, and Supreme Council for Women, along with other caring agency partners.
The results of the ‘Reaya’ initiative are also being analysed to ensure the participants are benefiting from the engagement.
“We have witnessed positive results throughout, where families have been helped to get back on their feet physically, financially and emotionally.
“In addition, the lives of abused children improved drastically as social experts monitor their behaviour over periods of months.
“We connect the victims to the appropriate government entities, where they will receive the correct individual care.”
One particularly harrowing case involved two children who were sexually abused by a caretaker.
They have received ongoing psychological treatment in co-ordination with the Health Ministry, he added, and financial support from the Social Development Ministry.
“They now live happily with their grandmother and are achieving good grades in school,” he added.
In addition, those who have benefited from the initiative include a 14-year-old girl who was forced to beg by cruel relatives. She was rescued, provided with school equipment to help her study and is said be thriving today.
Another child, who was tortured by his father, was initially sent to a shelter before his grandmother was granted custody.
His troubled childhood had turned violent but with care and appropriate counselling he has turned his life around to such an extent that he has been labelled ‘an ideal student’ by teachers in his latest class report.
Mr Alfadhel said the Public Prosecution also set up specialised interview and counselling rooms to help younger victims share their ordeals to experts in a safe environment.
“They have a lot of toys to make them feel at ease and it’s a truly child-friendly setting.”
Children can identify their abuser through the use of a two-way mirror system, so they do not become panicked or frightened.
To be fair to all parties concerned, suspects are lined up with other similar looking individuals and may even have to change clothes several times, to ensure the procedure is carried out according to the law.
The Public Prosecutor is present in a separate room, along with a clerk, during any questioning, he added. The children answer questions from a court-appointed social worker, who receives them through an earpiece from the prosecutor sitting with full view of the proceedings in the next room.
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