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INHUMAN TREATMENT IN CHILD CARE INSTITUTIONS
Roza Hovhannisyan, Reporter
Society - 30 March 2015, 12:32
The Ombudsman's extraordinary report "Child Rights in Child Care and
Special Educational Institutions: Systemic Study" states facts that
cause concerns.
The report reveals that the special institutions in Armenia which
provide services to children do not observe the laws and government
decrees and decisions of the competent ministries. Control is poor,
whereas these institutions are financed from the treasury every year
to provide appropriate care to children.
In 2014 the experts of the national prevention mechanism had 37 visits
to child care and special educational institutions which operate
under the Ministry of Education and Science, Yerevan Municipality,
governor's offices and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
In all the 8 child care and protection boarding institutions the
experts recorded not fully satisfactory conditions, lack of hygiene
goods in toilets, expired food, violations of rules of storing
food, quality and quantity of allocated food, use of food banned by
regulations, lack of sanitary conditions of reception of food.
It has been found out that in these institutions medicine is provided
to children without justification and prescriptions. The children of
all the boarding institutions pointed out discrimination towards them,
which is expressed in ill treatment and denigration. These children,
according to the report, undergo violence and denigrating treatment
by the teachers of public schools.
"Children of boarding institutions stated that discriminative treatment
is recorded when the teachers of the public schools label them "the
institution children" or say they "bring lice" to the school," the
report states.
The children told about one of the nurses who offends, slaps, hits
them with objects, sometimes makes them stand in the corridor naked,
instead of soothing hits a crying child. This person sometimes forces
children to eat and humiliates them while eating, telling that these
children come from socially insecure families.
Last year the national preventive mechanism visited all the 10
institutions under the Ministry of Education and Science, all the
13 special public schools under the governor's offices and Yerevan
Municipality. The conditions are awful. Experts observed unsatisfactory
premises and property used by children, overpopulation of bedrooms,
unsatisfactory heating, cases of not providing hygiene goods, lack of
necessary conditions for taking a shower or cases of not organizing
shower, in some cases anti-sanitary conditions.
In 2014 NPM visited 4 of the 6 boarding institutions for children
under the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
At present, there are around 737 children in orphanages, including 518
in specialized orphanages. Inadequate regulation and organization of
the process of adoption, increased number of children in specialized
orphanages, the problem of provision of apartments to children leaving
orphanages, low rates of return of children with special needs to
their biological families were reported.
Experts had private talks with children in different institutions.
During the conversations different stories of violence were told.
In one of the institutions children told that their bed linen is not
washed, instead it is just swapped with bed linen of other boys and
girls, and their beds smell urine. Night-shift nurses made girls stand
in the corridor naked all night, "naughty" children are isolated in
vacant bedrooms, they are made to stand on one foot, threatened to
leave in the boarding school forever if them misbehave, they are not
allowed to go to toilet after 10 pm.
In one of the institutions children said that nurses treat them badly,
swear, call them "idiots", hit them with sticks, hit on the head.
Children were ashamed to utter the swearing.
Another nurse, to punish children for speaking at night, makes them
stand naked in the corridor or threatens children that they will
be locked in the toilet all night, sometimes does not let them go
to toilet after 9 pm. In one of the special public schools children
told about violence by teachers. They said the social worker of the
school hit children with a stick.
In another institution, children told that the teachers are kind and
caring but some representatives of the administration use violence
and ill treatment, slap them, pull them down from the bed and throw
them onto the floor and hit them with feet.
Test-games were conducted with children during the NPM's visit to one
institution where children noted that most of all they are afraid of
sleeping at school, when they are angry with them, and most of all
they want to spend the summer vacations with their families.
A comprehensive study of answers of children concludes that children
do not perceive school as a safe place.
http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/society/view/33850
From: A. Papazian
Roza Hovhannisyan, Reporter
Society - 30 March 2015, 12:32
The Ombudsman's extraordinary report "Child Rights in Child Care and
Special Educational Institutions: Systemic Study" states facts that
cause concerns.
The report reveals that the special institutions in Armenia which
provide services to children do not observe the laws and government
decrees and decisions of the competent ministries. Control is poor,
whereas these institutions are financed from the treasury every year
to provide appropriate care to children.
In 2014 the experts of the national prevention mechanism had 37 visits
to child care and special educational institutions which operate
under the Ministry of Education and Science, Yerevan Municipality,
governor's offices and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
In all the 8 child care and protection boarding institutions the
experts recorded not fully satisfactory conditions, lack of hygiene
goods in toilets, expired food, violations of rules of storing
food, quality and quantity of allocated food, use of food banned by
regulations, lack of sanitary conditions of reception of food.
It has been found out that in these institutions medicine is provided
to children without justification and prescriptions. The children of
all the boarding institutions pointed out discrimination towards them,
which is expressed in ill treatment and denigration. These children,
according to the report, undergo violence and denigrating treatment
by the teachers of public schools.
"Children of boarding institutions stated that discriminative treatment
is recorded when the teachers of the public schools label them "the
institution children" or say they "bring lice" to the school," the
report states.
The children told about one of the nurses who offends, slaps, hits
them with objects, sometimes makes them stand in the corridor naked,
instead of soothing hits a crying child. This person sometimes forces
children to eat and humiliates them while eating, telling that these
children come from socially insecure families.
Last year the national preventive mechanism visited all the 10
institutions under the Ministry of Education and Science, all the
13 special public schools under the governor's offices and Yerevan
Municipality. The conditions are awful. Experts observed unsatisfactory
premises and property used by children, overpopulation of bedrooms,
unsatisfactory heating, cases of not providing hygiene goods, lack of
necessary conditions for taking a shower or cases of not organizing
shower, in some cases anti-sanitary conditions.
In 2014 NPM visited 4 of the 6 boarding institutions for children
under the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
At present, there are around 737 children in orphanages, including 518
in specialized orphanages. Inadequate regulation and organization of
the process of adoption, increased number of children in specialized
orphanages, the problem of provision of apartments to children leaving
orphanages, low rates of return of children with special needs to
their biological families were reported.
Experts had private talks with children in different institutions.
During the conversations different stories of violence were told.
In one of the institutions children told that their bed linen is not
washed, instead it is just swapped with bed linen of other boys and
girls, and their beds smell urine. Night-shift nurses made girls stand
in the corridor naked all night, "naughty" children are isolated in
vacant bedrooms, they are made to stand on one foot, threatened to
leave in the boarding school forever if them misbehave, they are not
allowed to go to toilet after 10 pm.
In one of the institutions children said that nurses treat them badly,
swear, call them "idiots", hit them with sticks, hit on the head.
Children were ashamed to utter the swearing.
Another nurse, to punish children for speaking at night, makes them
stand naked in the corridor or threatens children that they will
be locked in the toilet all night, sometimes does not let them go
to toilet after 9 pm. In one of the special public schools children
told about violence by teachers. They said the social worker of the
school hit children with a stick.
In another institution, children told that the teachers are kind and
caring but some representatives of the administration use violence
and ill treatment, slap them, pull them down from the bed and throw
them onto the floor and hit them with feet.
Test-games were conducted with children during the NPM's visit to one
institution where children noted that most of all they are afraid of
sleeping at school, when they are angry with them, and most of all
they want to spend the summer vacations with their families.
A comprehensive study of answers of children concludes that children
do not perceive school as a safe place.
http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/society/view/33850
From: A. Papazian