site.btaChild Protection Agency Reports over 440,000 Calls to Hotline for Children in Five Years

109 HOME AFFAIRS-CHILD PROTECTION AGENCY-HOTLINE-STATISTICS

Child Protection Agency Reports
over 440,000 Calls to Hotline for
Children in Five Years


Sofia, October 14 (BTA) - More than 440,000 calls have been
received at the National Hotline for Children of the State
Agency for Child Protection since its launch on October 14,
2009, the agency said Tuesday.

Over the five years of its existence the 116 111 hotline has
provided consultations on various problems, including to some
77,000 children as well as parents and other adults. Dozens of
boys and girls have been saved from violence and inappropriate
living conditions thanks to timely calls to the hotline.

The phone is used mainly by teenagers who share problems typical
of their age.

At each call the consultants judge the degree of risk for the
calling child and, where necessary, immediately refer the cases
to the police of the child protection departments. There were
over 1,600 such cases in the past five years, mainly involving
violence or neglect. Quite a number of the severe cases which
require such intervention were registered in small towns or
villages, the agency said.

There is a consistent trend of parents and other adults calling
and seeking information, guidance or reporting risks or
violation of children's rights. This, the agency says, is
indicative of increasing civic consciousness and desire to
terminate such actions.