Helpline Mauritius: Online Counselling

Despite the existence of domestic laws and International Conventions in favour of children, and all the works carried out by the competent Ministries and institutions, our children in Mauritius are still being subjected to violence. Regular press articles, surveys and research studies have also shown that because of the break down in the family unit, and single parent family, children are more exposed to risks and violence.

The 2011 Report of the Ombudsperson for Children in Mauritius has revealed that children are victims of physical and sexual abuse, trafficking, neglect or negligent treatment, and mental/psychological violence. What we can gather from the Report is that physical abuse against children is on the rise year after year. Besides the Report of the Ombudsperson for Children, the media, regularly reports cases of child abuse.

The Rationale for online counselling

The traditional way of counseling, that is telephone counselling is no longer working as expected for various reasons. One of them is that children are not able to use this service in confidence and it is not child-friendly. Online Counselling service for Children will provide children of Mauritius and Rodrigues access to information and counseling. This innovative type of help, far from the traditional advice, will be easily accessible to children. Counselors will be trained on various topics affecting children in their everyday life ranging from violence at home to violence at school.

Halley Movement is working on operating this service since 2 years. Various meetings, consultation, and training have taken place already and we are currently looking for partners who can sustain this service. Helpline Mauritius counsellors will respond to the needs of children and young people by providing them with a safe place for them to express their inner thoughts and feelings, get help, explore their options and obtain supplementary resources.

Counsellors and supervisors

Helpline Mauritius is now recruiting counsellors and supervisors for the service. Counsellors will communicate with children and young people through chat, email and telephone.  Supervisors will manage the service and will monitor counsellors in their day to day tasks. Click here to see the job description of counsellors and supervisors or alternatively write to us.

Volunteers

Please write to us if you wish to volunteer your time for the welfare of children and the community and be part of a dynamic team for the first online counselling service in Mauritius.

Partners

Halley Movement is inviting potential partners both locally and internationally to be involved in this community based program for children and young people in Mauritius & Rodrigues Island.

The Media

Halley Movement would like to recognise the contribution of the media in Mauritius with respect to the online counselling service.