Cypriot initiative dedicated to children wins the Cristal Scales of Justice Prize
UNIC’s Dr. Alexia Zalaf a member of the team which created the winning project ‘Kids in Court Psychoeducational Tool (KiCPsy-Tool)’
Dr. Alexia Zalaf, Assistant Professor at the UNIC School of Humanities and Social Sciences (Department of Social Sciences), along with her team from Sheffield Hallam University (UK), and Hope for Children CRC Policy Centre has been awarded the Council of Europe’s Crystal Scales of Justice Prize for a psychoeducational tool aimed at supporting children giving evidence in court.
The award aims at discovering and highlighting innovative and efficient practices within the judicial system. This tool was chosen as the awarded initiative from 48 projects submitted from 17 countries.
The Kids in Court Psychoeducational Tool (KiCPsy-Tool) consists of four mini board games aimed as assisting children in alleged child sexual offence cases when they are called to give evidence in court. The purpose of the KiCPsy-Tool is to improve children’s knowledge of the legal process and to reduce their court-related stress through playful activities.
The project team is led by Dr Marilena Kyriakidou at Sheffield Hallam University and the tool was co-created with Dr Alexia Zalaf from the University of Nicosia and Joanna Drousiotou from the Hope for CRC Policy Center (Children’s House). The KiCPsy-Tool has been piloted within the Children’s House in Cyprus and early indications are that it can help reduce children’s court related stress and increase their knowledge while also improving how practitioners can effectively support children.
