7th international EFJCA Conference, 6 and 7 October 2025, Heraklion (Greece)

Bio Bert Groen

Bert is a former Police inspector with 20+ years of experience in child friendly interviewing and in criminal investigations on sexual crimes, trafficking, child pornography, child abuse and other related crimes. Besides an active involvement in national projects focusing on the development of an integral approach of domestic violence, sexual violence and child abuse in the Netherlands, he led several multi-year international projects focussing on developing and implementing a multi-agency approach on gender-based violence and child abuse.

As project leader Bert led the by the EU funded project ‘Family Justice Centers in Europe’ and was responsible for the development and implementation of Family Justice Centers (FJC) in five European countries. Bert is the co-author of the book “One Safe Place for Hope and Empowerment, development of the multidisciplinary approach of domestic violence, child abuse and sexual abuse in European Family Justice Centers”.

Currently Bert is the President of the European Family Justice Center Alliance (EFJCA). He also operated as a case manager at the Sexual Referral Center (CSG) in the region of Zwolle, the Netherlands. He has 30+ years of professional experience in policing, policymaking and project management with a focus on domestic violence, sexual violence, human trafficking and child abuse.