How institutions can help

Healthcare Facility

• your GP can provide the necessary medical assistance both at a health center and, if help is needed at night or on a public holiday, at a night and holiday health center or a hospital emergency department,
• this initiates the Blue Card procedure in connection with a justified suspicion that abuse has occurred in the family, and informs the victim where he/she can receive further assistance,
• the doctor will give you a certificate confirming injury free of charge and inform you that a medical forensic examination may be carried out,
• the doctor has a duty to call the Police in the event of a direct threat to the life, health or safety of a victim of domestic abuse.

Nurseries, kindergartens, schools

• pedagogues, educators and professionals are often the first to notice domestic abuse of children and can react accordingly, even at the nursery level,
• when faced with abuse, pedagogues, educators, teachers and specialists working in kindergartens or schools should initiate the Blue Card procedure. Nursery staff are not authorized to initiate the Blue Card procedure, but they are required to notify the relevant services.
• staff from these facilities are part of interdisciplinary working groups that provide assistance to families experiencing abuse.

The Police

• are required to respond to a report,
• initiate the Blue Card procedure,
• take action,
• intervene at the scene to ensure the safety of a victim of domestic abuse and call for medical assistance, if necessary,
• secure evidence of the crime and determine the details of the incident if a crime has been committed in connection with domestic abuse,
• apprehend a violent person in a life and health-threatening situation,
• make preliminary enquiries if a violent crime is suspected to have occurred,
• take preventative action against a violent person, including issuing an order to vacate the premises or a restraining order preventing entry to the workplace, educational institution of the victim of abuse, etc.) for a period of fourteen days,
• inform victims of abuse about forms and possibilities of assistance,

The local community police officer monitors the safety of people covered by the Blue Card procedure, and also conducts interviews with abuse victims and witnesses.

The Municipal Social Assistance Centre

• initiates the Blue Card procedure,
• assists in dealing with official matters, provides advice, and organizes legal and psychological consultations and workshops,
• provides information on benefits and forms of assistance available, and in justified cases provides financial assistance (benefits) and in-kind assistance (food),
• may organize and/or run support groups for victims of domestic abuse,
• identifies places where victims of abuse can get shelter,
• notifies law enforcement authorities of a suspected crime,
• monitors actions taken, the situation of the family, and the level of safety, with visits to the family’s place of residence,
• motivates violent people to change their behavior, and in justified cases encourages them to attend correctional-educational group meetings,
• works with other institutions and organizations involved in helping people suffering from domestic abuse, so that help is comprehensive and can be immediate,
• MOPS social workers form part of interdisciplinary working groups (together with the Police, pedagogues, probation officers, representatives of the health care and NGOs), which provide assistance to families affected by abuse in difficult situations caused by abuse and help families to stop abuse.

The Crisis Centre

• provides assistance to people who find themselves in a crisis as a result of issues such as experiencing domestic abuse
• provides assistance at the center, by telephone or during on-site interventions,
• provides psychological assistance, and social and legal advice,
• provides shelter for a period of up to three months to those who, due to abuse, have lost their previous place of shelter or whose place of residence poses a danger to life and health due to domestic abuse,
• provides support of a social worker,
• organizes support groups for victims of domestic abuse,
• conducts corrective and educational interventions for perpetrators of domestic abuse.

The Domestic Abuse Specialist Support Centre

• provides 24-hour shelter for victims of abuse,
• provides psychological and therapeutic assistance, and organizes medical care if the state of health of a victim of abuse so requires,
• provides support and specialist sociotherapeutic and therapeutic assistance to children,
• provides legal assistance in relation to situations of domestic abuse,
• begins working with the family of a victim of domestic abuse to re-establish  family relationships that have broken down,
• takes measures to raise awareness of persons benefiting from support of behaviors enabling them to protect themselves against the perpetrator of domestic abuse,
• provides assistance relating to support for children’s education, care and upbringing roles of parents, the implementation of elements of building relationships between family members, elements of non-violent communication, the formation of proper family ties,
• provides assistance in the form of food, clothing, and footwear until social assistance benefits are granted, and personal hygiene and cleaning products,
• assesses the risk of further acts of domestic abuse,
• provides subsistence assistance to victims of abuse who use a 24-hour shelter: communal bathrooms, washing and drying facilities, food, personal hygiene products, shoes, clothing.

Counselling and family therapy centers

• offer support to families affected by abuse through individual, family and group therapy,
• run psycho-educational groups,
• provide assistance to children, carry out trauma reduction activities.

Other institutions / centers / foundations

• “Emergency Plan” developed by the Office of the Ombudsman, working in cooperation with experts from the Feminoteka Foundation, the Centre for Women's Rights and the IPZ Blue Line.
• The Centre for Women's Rights prevents all forms of abuse and discrimination against women in private, public and professional life. It seeks to create conditions that enable women to enjoy their due human rights, including the right to live free from abuse and discrimination, and to realize the constitutional principle of gender equality.