Child abuse: where to go, helplines and hotlines

The procedure for contacting the guardianship and trusteeship authorities

Art. 122 of the RF IC imposes on citizens and officials of organizations the obligation to report to the guardianship service information about the identification of a child left without parental care and about other cases of violation of children's rights.

Expert opinion

Stanislav Evseev

Lawyer. Experience 12 years. Specialization: civil, family, inheritance law.

Where to contact?

Where to turn if you have witnessed illegal behavior of parents or discovered a child abandoned without care, lost, sick or injured?

The powers to detect and protect the rights of children left without parental care, resolve disputes between relatives, remove children from families who pose a danger, and the subsequent placement of children are assigned to the Guardianship and Trusteeship Authorities (according to paragraph 2 of Article 121 of the RF IC, Art. 8 Federal Law of the Russian Federation “On guardianship and trusteeship”). It is to the PLO (and not to the prosecutor's office, court, presidential administration or newspaper editorial office) that a complaint or notification must be filed.

It is advisable to contact the PLO directly at the place of residence or stay of the child , and not at your own place of residence - this will speed up the receipt of important data and the verification.

Methods of circulation

Let's consider where to complain about an aggressive child. From time to time, situations arise in classes when one minor bullies the entire class. Parents try to influence teachers, but they do not have sufficient power to resolve the conflict.

In practice, one of the popular solutions is to apply for guardianship. However, the law does not provide specialists with such powers.

To resolve the situation, you need to contact the PDN. To do this, you must include evidence. The police officer will draw up a report and the child’s parents will be held accountable. In 2020, this is the only method of influence.

You can submit a complaint in the following ways:

personally;
by mail;
by phone;
through the website of the guardianship department;
through an educational institution;
through a medical institution.

If a citizen does not want to contact the guardianship department on his own, he can contact the child’s teacher or district pediatrician. If the information is confirmed, the officials will independently inform the authorized body.

Reasons for contacting may be:

child abuse;
presence of injury in a minor;
prolonged crying;
finding a child in a public place without parents and persons replacing them;
information about violation of children's property rights;
lack of basic necessities for minors;
sick or emaciated appearance of the child.

In the Russian Federation, timely reporting of signs of child abuse is not accepted. As a rule, communication is carried out exclusively for personal purposes. Therefore, there are difficulties in the country with early detection of domestic problems.

What to do if you suspect neighbors of child abuse?

In Russia, more than two million children under 14 years of age suffer from domestic violence annually from close relatives - mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, brothers or sisters. Neighbors, who often become unwitting witnesses to what is happening, are faced with many questions: is it worth interfering in family affairs? Will it turn out that their participation will only do harm? Wouldn't guardianship then take the child away from the family?

“Such Cases” found out how charitable organizations and the guardianship authorities themselves propose to act in such cases.

Death from exhaustion and mountains of garbage

Since the beginning of 2020, there have been several high-profile cases in which small children were killed or injured when left unattended for several days.

At the end of January, a one-year-old boy died of exhaustion in St. Petersburg. His mother left home for several days and deliberately left the child without food or water. Previously, she was deprived of parental rights to her eldest son, 14 years old. The last time the guardianship authorities checked the family was in 2020. In Kirov, on February 20, the body of a three-year-old girl was found in one of the city’s apartments. Her mother locked her at home alone for a week without food and turned off the water taps. Neighbors told reporters that the girl was left at home alone more than once, but they did not contact the police or child welfare authorities.

On March 10, in Moscow, employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergency Situations rescued a five-year-old girl from an apartment littered with garbage. Her mother also left her for several days. The girl was emaciated, in dirty clothes, did not speak, and had a plastic rubber band embedded in her neck. The special services were called by neighbors who heard the loud crying of a child. On April 8, in Mytishchi, the Moscow region guardianship authorities took away four children from a local resident - three of them did not have birth certificates, because their mother gave birth to them right in the apartment. It turned out that the family lived in unsanitary conditions and ate scraps from the garbage dump that the grandmother brought. The neighbors again turned to the child welfare authorities for help because they had not seen their children on the street for a long time.

How can you spot if your child is being mistreated at home?

The first thing that should immediately attract the attention of neighbors to a child is dirty and unkempt clothes, swollen, sleepy or tear-stained eyes and other signs of neglect, listed the president of the interregional public organization for assisting families with children in difficult life situations “Stork” Larisa Lazareva. Children suffering from domestic violence often have bad habits, they laugh less often, and they do worse at school. This can be noticed not only by neighbors at home, but also by teachers at school.

But again, the expert emphasized, a child’s poor appearance is not a reason to come to the unequivocal conclusion that his parents are cruel to him. Perhaps the family simply found itself in a difficult life situation.

“To begin with, you can kindly ask the child himself if everything is okay at home. We must remember that very young children sometimes fantasize, so it is important not to go too far when communicating with them,” Lazareva noted. She also added that burns, bruises and signs of beatings on the child’s body should be an alarming signal. But even here you need to make a distinction - bruises can also be caused by the fact that the child plays sports, is simply hyperactive, often falls and hits himself.

In any case, you cannot ignore your suspicions, because the outcome of the situation largely depends on the involvement of others. “We react little to the world around us. And in cases when we don’t pay attention to problems and don’t want to help - maybe out of fear of being witnessed or out of indifference - all kinds of cruelty happen,” recalled the director of “Aistenka”.

What to do if there are suspicions of child abuse?

If a person thinks that neighbors are cruelly treating their child or children, first of all they should try to personally find out the family’s situation and offer help, says Larisa Lazareva. For example, a child crying for a long time does not always mean that he is being hurt.

“We had an illustrative case. Our specialist psychologist came to me for advice. The child of her downstairs neighbors cried at night for three days in a row, and she did not know what to do in such a situation. I suggested that first we just go to them and find out if they need some help. It turned out that the child’s mother was hospitalized, and the father and grandmother were left with the baby in their arms and transferred him from breastfeeding to formula. The baby just had a tummy ache, that’s why he cried, especially at night,” said the director of “Aistenka”. “In the end, our employee explained to them how best to switch from breastfeeding to formula, gave other small tips, gave the organization’s coordinates, and everything was decided.”

The president of the Volunteers to Help Orphans Foundation, Elena Alshanskaya, also suggested finding out the situation in the family and trying to help on their own. “You need to understand that many cases, especially those discussed in the press, have nothing to do with abuse,” she emphasized. — There is real violence and a threat to the life and health of the child. And it happens that the family is in a difficult life situation and cannot cope, for example, with the issues of caring for the apartment and ensuring order. Yes, it's a nuisance to the neighbors, but it's not abuse. Unfortunately, neighbors usually react more actively to odors or cockroaches than to actual violence against a child.”

If a family is in a difficult situation, you can establish communication with it, offer help, or at least find out if it needs it, advises Alshanskaya. For example, offer children's things, toys, or look after the child from time to time if the mother is raising the child alone and finds it difficult to cope with him herself.

THEN SHE WILL NOT BE TEMPTED TO LEAVE THE CHILD ALONE THE FIRST, SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH TIME

“Neighbors can help through very simple types of help that do not humiliate [the person]. The main thing is to offer this help in some non-offensive, respectful way. But this turns out to be the most difficult, because we are very separated and live in apartment buildings, as if in the forest,” Alshanskaya said.

“Such cases” also contacted the guardianship authorities for comment on the algorithm of actions in such situations. The head of the guardianship and trusteeship department of the Presnensky district administration of Moscow, Svetlana Komkova, recommends that neighbors do not find out the circumstances on their own, but immediately call the social service.

“It’s difficult to immediately assess on your own whether there is a threat to the child or not; you need to call the guardianship authorities,” says Svetlana Komkova. “And we will decide whether there is a problem or not.” If abuse does occur, we will be able to provide timely assistance to the child. The sooner we start helping, the better. We are obliged to come and check, even if everything in the family turns out to be fine, and the children were just loudly stomping upstairs.”

When should you call the police or child protection authorities?

If the residents of the house know that a child is being subjected to physical violence in the family, continued the president of Aistenka Larisa Lazareva, this is a reason to contact law enforcement agencies and the guardianship authorities at the place of residence. Some departments have special communication channels for this:

“Helpline” of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation;

Hotline “Child in Danger” of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation;

“Unified social phone” 8 (800) 3008-100;

In Moscow there is a single number “051” - a hotline, from which requests are also forwarded to the guardianship authorities.

“It happens that neighbors, especially if they are dealing with rowdy people, are afraid to call the police under their own names. You can contact the authorities anonymously. I myself have made such calls several times for other people who did not want to reveal their identities. Such requests must also be responded to,” the expert said.

Svetlana Komkova confirmed to TD that social services are obliged to respond on the first call and consider any appeals, including anonymous ones. “And this does not mean that the guardianship authorities will come and take the child away from the family,” she said. “Now the work of social services across the country is set up to see if there are resources in the family to correct the difficult situation. Yes, it happens that our parents don’t let us into the apartment and don’t want to communicate. But we still continue to work with this family and explain to adults that they need this work.”

The head of the guardianship department noted that in 80-90% of cases, relatives abuse children as a result of alcohol or drug use. But even such cases, as she noted, are not a reason for them to immediately take the child away. Social services first try to find more humane ways to solve the problem, “but if there is a risk for the child to be in this family, we must minimize it.”

What to do if the complaint remains unanswered?

If law enforcement agencies do not respond immediately or respond but do not take any measures, do not hesitate to call them a second and third time and, if necessary, write complaints. “The annoying attention of neighbors can also save the situation,” noted Elena Alshanskaya.

The director of “Aistenka” added that in case of a late response from the guardianship authorities, you can contact directly the Ministry of Education or Social Policy of your region, which has a leading department of guardianship and trusteeship.

President of the Volunteers to Help Orphans Foundation Elena Alshanskaya noted that they received complaints that the intervention of guardianship authorities and the police does not always help. “And let's be honest, there's a reason for that. There have already been situations when no one helped or the situation turned against neighbors who asked for help, or the children themselves,” she said. “For example, [social service workers] interviewed the parents in the presence of children who had told their neighbors about sexual abuse by their stepfather, and in the presence of the parents, the children. It is clear that a child in such a situation will deny everything.”

In addition, there are situations when children are taken from their families not because of how their parents treat them, but because of the conditions in which they live. As Elena Alshanskaya explained, housing conditions may have nothing to do with violence, but this is how the legislation works: the only document that guardianship authorities are required to fill out is an act of inspection of housing conditions. This leads to a strange bias from protecting children from violence to checking living conditions.

The task of society is to change the current situation: to help families, protect children and amend imperfect legislation, the expert concluded.

Algorithm of actions

The appeal can be made in writing or submitted orally. Regardless of the form, the guardianship department is obliged to respond to the submitted information within 3 days (Article 122 of the RF IC). If the message contains information about a threat to the life and health of a child, specialists must respond immediately.

The result of the appeal is a visit to the child’s family to check living conditions and identify a threat. When the information is confirmed, specialists take measures up to and including the removal of the minor (Article 77 of the RF IC).

Procedure for sending an appeal to the guardianship department:

Finding out the reception time.
Collection of documents.
Filling out an application.

Important! Specialists of the guardianship department are not obliged to inform the applicant about the measures taken and the results of the visit. In the case of an examination of the living conditions of a minor, a copy of the report is sent to the child’s representative, and not to the applicant.

Finding out the reception time

Since the message may require a personal visit, it is advisable to check the specialist’s appointment time. Otherwise, he may be absent from the workplace.

Important! If the situation does not require delay, then it is necessary to provide information to the PDN or KDN. They must respond immediately.

Information about specialists’ visiting hours is located:

on the website of the guardianship department;
on the website of the district administration;
at the information stand near the department.

It can also be clarified by phone.

Collection of documents

When filing a complaint about failure to fulfill parental responsibilities, a citizen does not have to provide evidence. Moreover, he is not required to present an identity document.

If an application is submitted by one of the parents about the failure of the second parent to fulfill their duties, then it is necessary to present:

passport;
child's birth document;
document on divorce;
agreement on the residence of a minor in case of divorce.

However, the application must be accepted even in the absence of the listed information. However, the citizen must accurately indicate the minor’s residential address.

Important! The guardianship department does not search for children. If the whereabouts of the child are unknown, you must contact the police department.

Submitting an application

When contacting the guardianship department in person, the question may arise about filing a written complaint against the mother or the actions of the father. This requirement is not mandatory.

The document must contain the following information:

name of the guardianship department;
applicant details;
document's name;
a request to take action against the parents/other legal representatives of the minor;
reasons for contacting;
date, signature.

Sample complaint to the guardianship department

What to do if benefits are delayed or paid irregularly?

Benefit payments are assigned after the employer has provided information to the Social Insurance Fund. By law, he is obliged to provide documents or information necessary for calculating benefits within five calendar days from the date of receipt of the application from the employee.

If the employer delays the payment of child care benefits for up to one and a half years, as well as other benefits that are provided in connection with maternity, then you can file a complaint with the territorial body of the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation at the place of registration of the employer as an insurer. You can also report non-payment or untimely payment of child benefits to the state labor inspectorate of the region or file a claim in court.

How to write an application correctly?

Rules for filing a complaint:

The citizen must describe the situation in detail; if information is available, it is necessary to clarify the frequency of the problems.
The applicant must accurately indicate the child's details or exact address.
The request cannot contain demands for prosecution or other punishment options. Guardianship can only conduct an examination and remove the child. Other issues will be resolved by the CDN or the court.

Important! If the child's father wants to report that his ex-wife is spending child support improperly, then this does not need to be included in the complaint to the child custody department. Parents must resolve this issue independently or through the court. Specialists can only check that the child has basic necessities.

How to anonymously contact the guardianship authorities?

The law does not provide for the obligation of citizens to make an official written appeal to the guardianship department. Specialists are required to consider an anonymous application.

anonymous call

You can provide information about family troubles or other cases of violation of children's rights by phone. A citizen can call the local hotline, the guardianship department or the KDN.

As a result, the commission will visit the residential premises in which the minor lives. Specialists must provide the reasons for the inspection (official complaint, anonymous call). If there is no information about the applicant, they will not be able to provide it.

via the Internet

If anonymity is not an issue, then you can apply for your wife via the Internet. To do this, you need to fill out a special form on the district administration website.

Since 2020, the law prohibits the acceptance and consideration of anonymous complaints sent via the Internet at the municipal, regional and federal levels. The applicant must provide full name and address.

Otherwise, the complaint will not be accepted. If the necessary information is available, specialists will issue a written official response to the applicant.

No.	Rules for contacting the guardianship department
1	The application must be submitted to the guardianship department at the place of permanent or temporary registration of the child
2	The law does not require the applicant to provide personal or children's documents
3	The citizen must accurately indicate the location of the child or his details