Sidra Child Advocacy Program(S-CAP)

Qatar Child Abuse Protection Services

Child abuse and neglect as a problem is present in Qatar like any other country, and has been escalating especially with the rapid growth in population and migration. Previous child abuse services were provided by Pediatricians who were not trained in this specialty and that has resulted in the late diagnosis of some of those cases. Our program was created to provide a more direct and effective approach to this problem.

Sidra Child Advocacy Team (S-CAP) has been established to coordinate care of children suspected of being abused and provide good quality care.

Currently S-CAP has clinics based in OPC and also provides 24/7 on call services (4003 7227) for advice and referrals from other healthcare areas run by other stakeholders and schools. This program is staffed with trained doctors, nurse practitioners, and social workers. We provide a safe, discrete facility for conducting interviews, medical examinations, and creating medico-legal reports. We also support children and families, arrange necessary referrals and coordinate care.

A dedicated Sidra Medicine Child helpline (4003 4000) has been established for general public who can call during working hours or leave a message out of hours, if they know or suspect a child is being abused.

S-CAP team also provides education on the subject of general public and professionals by leaflets, audio-visual material and by organizing face to face teaching sessions.