INSTRUCTIONS ON THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN’S RIGHTS IN THREE COMIC BOOKS

Instructions for children on how to protect their rights in the process of parental divorce and how to protect themselves from domestic and online violence are now available in the form of three comic books created as part of a Human Rights Action (HRA) initiative.

These are three interesting stories that introduce children to appropriate solutions to situations that can be very stressful for them and their friends. We believe that comic books will help children understand their rights and motivate them to help themselves as well as others.

Based on interviews with social workers and school psychologists, we concluded that children often find themselves in situations of parental divorce, alcoholism and domestic violence. Additionally, we concluded that they are often victims of the publication of unwanted information on the Internet. Therefore, the purpose of these comic books is to inform children to whom and in what way they can turn and what kind of help they can expect in the above-mentioned situations. The comic books refer them to school staff, social workers, police, courts and state prosecutors as sources of support.

The screenplay was written by professors of literature Svetlana Jovetić Koprivica and Miroslav Minić in cooperation with the HRA and UNICEF team. Valuable advice was provided by Marica Stijepović, Supervisor in the Department for Children and Youth at the Center for Social Work Podgorica, Aida Perović from NGO Prima, who also organized a children’s focus group, Tamara Milić, Head of Directorate for Preschool and Inclusive Education in the Ministry of Education of Montenegro, Maja Raičević, Executive Director of the NGO Women’s Rights Center and Dijana Popović Gavranović, Head of the Professional Support Service of the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office. We also received useful suggestions from the Group for the Suppression of High-Tech Crime and the Operational Team for the Fight against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence of the Police Directorate. The comic book illustrators are Ilija Nikčević and the Bad Brain studio from Nikšić.

The publication of the comic books was welcomed by the Supreme Court, the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, the Institute for Education and the Protector of Human Rights and Freedoms of Montenegro – Ombudsman.

The comics are available in both Montenegrin and Albanian at www.hraction.org, and will also be available on the websites of many schools in Montenegro. The first printed edition was distributed to psychological and pedagogical services in schools, to teachers of Civic Education, centres for social work, state prosecutor’s offices, courts and the Ombudsman, health centres and non-governmental organizations that work with children.

The comic books were created within the Regional Initiative “Equitable Access to Justice for Children in the West Balkans States” which has been implemented in Montenegro and Albania, with the technical assistance of UNICEF and financial assistance of the Government of the Kingdom of Norway, which aims to create conditions for the implementation of child-friendly justice procedures that take into account the child’s opinion and protect their best interests.