Barnahus
Barnahus – supporting child and vulnerable witnesses with compassion
Supporting child and vulnerable witnesses with compassion
Davidhorn partners with Barnahus to provide advanced tools that ensure the well-being of child witnesses. Our interview recorders and AI-driven software solutions create a safe and supportive environment for children, offering swift and accurate interview recordings, speech-to-text functions, and secure sharing.
Children relive the trauma when confronting perpetrators and through repeated interviews. Our recording solutions secure the evidence-in-chief and help children to move on. This concept secures a collaborative yet controlled framework for interdisciplinary teams, supported by Davidhorn’s best practices in delivering court-ready evidence.
Watch our webinar on Child Forensic Interviewing
The Barnahus model, which translates from Icelandic as “Children’s House,” is a holistic approach to handling child abuse cases and child witness interviewing.
Central to this model is the concept of bringing all services related to child protection under one roof, ensuring that children do not have to navigate multiple stations from police to healthcare to social services.
This setup not only streamlines the process but also creates a more comforting and secure environment for the child. Within the Barnahus, children undergo forensic interviews, medical examinations, therapeutic services, and legal consultations in a single, child-friendly setting. This model minimises the trauma of recounting abusive experiences by reducing the number of times children must tell their stories.
Originating in Iceland and now adopted by numerous European countries, the Barnahus model is pioneering a child-centric approach to investigative interviewing. This method significantly reduces the trauma experienced by children during the justice process by ensuring that all services—from legal to psychological—are delivered under one roof and tailored to the child’s needs. The model is adaptabile to different national contexts while preserving its core principles of child protection and dignity.
