The family is the only institution that has been the safest for raising children since time immemorial.
Lúč pre Dieťa is the only organization in Slovakia that specializes in international cases and provides advice on assistance in the wrongful removal of children, on return procedures for minors to their country of origin. We work with families at risk, in which a child may be removed, and families in which a child has already been removed. We consider it crucial to preserve the integrity and continuity of a child’s life. Therefore, we strive to ensure that children do not have to leave their family environment at all, or that they can return to it as soon as possible. We provide assistance and advice to parents after a child has been removed. We support them in the difficult process of returning a child back to the family. We develop conceptual activities that encourage changes to the legislative framework with a direct impact on the social environment. Our effort is to improve child and family care by also amending legal norms and regulations. We communicate with the public. We openly communicate about the issue of the difference in life between countries (Slovakia and Western Europe). We create awareness and open a social debate. We try to eradicate ingrained prejudices and show the situation of taken children in a truthful light. We do all this in accordance with the Declaration of the Human Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Charter of Family Rights. Our goal is to unite families. Children have the right to live with their biological family, extended family and to know their culture. Our guiding idea is: “A child is a GIFT, not a commodity!” (Dadík)
Each country has its own laws and social system.
Abroad, children are taken at a possible risk, the deed did not happen.
An anonymous phone call that no one verifies is enough.
A child comes to school injured, has bruises, …, the parent does not explain what happened when handing over.
An injured child in the emergency room, where social services suspect injury to another person.
Unauthorized removal of a child is very simple, but has traumatic consequences.
Family breakdown in many cases.
The extended family is divided, ties are broken.
Children experience trauma, move to a substitute foster family. Difference in language use. Different meals, regimen. From day to day.
After children return to their parents, the family begins a complex process again.
Relationships are disrupted. Broken trust, where restoration is difficult.
Children become bedridden, have night awakenings,
blame their parents for separation, for being away from their family with complete strangers.
We show how patients are systematically manufactured.
Dadik