The Project
PEARLS for children (Professionals’ Empowerment through Assisted Resilience Learning and Support) is a 24-month European project, funded by European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014-2020) that aims to contribute to preventing and combating child maltreatment (CM) in Italy, in Lithuania and in Poland.
CM, in the form of physical and mental abuse or physical and mental neglect, is one of the most common and severe Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) experienced by 55 million children in the EU.
The most of the episodes of violence against children occur within the family and survivors are at risk of longer-term consequences.
Developing resilience in children helps moderate the effects of ACE on developmental harms and consequently better outcomes despite a history of multiple ACEs.
Capacity
building
Training 315 professionals working within medical care, social services, police and education sectors on assisted resilience paradigm as to assume the role of Tutor of Resilience (ToR) for children
Joint action
strategy
Increasing cross-sectorial private and public partnerships (CCPP) engaging 75 key stakeholders of Child Maltreatment (CM) to address childhood adversity at local level with increased homogeneity and consistent management
Lobbying and
sensitization
Organisation of public events directed to 500 National and European actors to raise awareness on CM, to promote CCPP model and Assisted Resilience paradigm for the prevention and the mitigating of CM effects on kids
Maltreatment and neglect are
widespread and
potentially
underestimated
phenomena
in Europe
According to WHO-European Region, about 55mil children are victims of maltreatment in the Union, maltreatment takes the form of
sexual abuse (9.6% of cases)
physical neglect (16.3%)
emotional neglect (18.4%)
physical abuse (22.9%)
emotional abuse (29.6%)