The Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office has initiated the adoption of additional measures for the social support of children and families

Sometimes, when preventive work with children and families is carried out for a long time, one does not realize its result. However, analyzing some aspects, one understands that a lot has been done.

For example, in the Vitebsk region, if ten years ago, in 2010, adolescents committed 587 criminal offenses, then in 2019, there were only 177. Previously, several murders were recorded annually, senselessly committed by minors; now, this is an exceptional rarity. The consistent work of the entire system of prevention entities, education, police, commissions for juvenile affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and the prosecutor's office has made it possible to reduce juvenile delinquency by almost 70%. For nine months of 2020, only 122 criminal offenses were registered. Adolescents are now mainly involved in theft and hooliganism.

In total, there are over 209 thousand minors under 17 years of age inclusive living in the region.

Orphanhood is decreasing, the commission of administrative offenses by adolescents has decreased significantly, and the level of alcoholism and drug addiction among youth has substantially decreased.

The prosecutor's office is not only a supervisory body but also takes measures that have a beneficial effect on the state of legality and helps families and children.

The Prosecutor's Office of the Vitebsk Region initiated the adoption of additional measures for the social support of children and families. The Prosecutor of the Vitebsk Region, V.V. Sushchinsky, sent several informational memos to the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee and the Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies on this issue. The authorities and deputies understood the problem and responded. The Vitebsk Regional Council of Deputies adopted Resolution No. 10 of March 27, 2018, "On additional measures for the social support of students."

According to this resolution, students of general secondary and special education institutions in the region are granted the right to free travel on public passenger transport from September 1 to June 30, in cases other than those provided for in subparagraphs 1.1 of Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus No. 202 of February 16, 2011 "On some issues of student travel."

This decision is being successfully implemented in

areas, students are entitled to free travel not only to their place of study and back to their place of residence, but also to places of additional employment, sports, culture, etc. Such social support measures have made it possible to involve children more in additional activities, and thus, to realistically influence the prevention of their unlawful behavior.

In the region, the number of children who died or were injured from external causes (death at abandoned sites or those not meeting safety requirements, in quarries, artificial reservoirs, in fires, in road traffic accidents) has noticeably increased. Previously, 25-35 children died from such causes per year. Now, in 2019, 15 children died, and in the current year – 9.

Of course, this is a joint effort of the traffic police and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, but the prosecutor's office has also taken a number of measures.

Thus, at the initiative of the Vitebsk Regional Prosecutor's Office, supported by the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, as early as 2015, executive committees and prevention entities in the regions organized ongoing work to identify potentially dangerous sites for children, eliminate violations of safety requirements during their operation, and conduct appropriate explanatory work among children and their parents.

Currently, the level of children affected by crimes has significantly decreased – from 703 to 593 children. In the vast majority of cases, children suffer from crimes when parents do not pay alimony or do not reimburse funds for the maintenance of children of orphan categories, or from theft. 21 adolescents were injured by serious and particularly serious crimes (for the same period in 2019 – 35). Children are suffering less from crimes against sexual inviolability.

Over the past two years, the prosecutor's office has held relevant coordination meetings to improve the work of prevention entities, the goal of which is to prevent children from falling into extreme life situations, as well as child abuse.

Work in this direction will continue.

Assistant Prosecutor of Vitebsk Region
for supervision of legislation enforcement
regarding minors and youth
Irina Tarasevich