“Did You Ever Fight Back?” Jurors’ Questions to Children Testifying in Criminal Trials About Alleged Sexual Abuse

The current study examined jurors’ questions to children in criminal trials assessing children’s allegations of sexual abuse, demonstrating a new avenue for studying how jurors think about, respond to, and assess evidence. We used qualitative content analysis to examine jurors’ questions to 134, 5- to 17-year-olds alleging sexual abuse in criminal trial testimonies. Five themes emerged: abuse interactions, contextual details of abuse, children’s reactions to abuse, children’s (delayed) disclosure, and case background details. Jurors often ask about abuse dynamics, the context surrounding abuse, and children’s disclosure processes, reflecting common misconceptions about child sexual abuse (CSA), such as whether it is credible to delay disclosure or maintain contact with an alleged perpetrator. This study improves our understanding of how jurors understand and evaluate children’s reports of alleged CSA, suggesting that jurors may struggle to understand children’s reluctance.

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Child Sexual Abuse—Challenging Conditions for Adult Oral Health: A Qualitative Study

JDR Clinical & Translational Research ◽

10.1177/23800844211053775 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 238008442110537

Author(s):

E. Wolf ◽

S. Månsson ◽

L. Wallin ◽

G. Priebe

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Content Analysis ◽

Oral Health ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

Qualitative Study ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Qualitative Content Analysis ◽

Oral Care ◽

Dental Professionals ◽

Dental Appointments

The aim was to analyze perceptions of oral health in adults who have been exposed to child sexual abuse. Eleven participants (10 women), 19 to 56 y of age, who had experienced sexual abuse as children were purposively selected and interviewed in-depth. The participants were encouraged to describe how they perceived the effect of the sexual abuse on their oral health as adults. The interviews were recorded digitally and transcribed verbatim. The collected material was analyzed according to qualitative content analysis. The theme “challenging conditions for maintaining oral health” was identified, comprising 2 categories: first, “the emotional significance,” with the subcategories 1) emotional barriers and 2) powerful relief, and second, “the obstacles to oral health,” with the subcategories 1) daily self-care with complications and 2) dental appointments with difficulties. The findings indicate that the experience of sexual abuse during childhood can have a negative impact on oral care in adulthood. The informants stated that oral health was of utmost importance but also associated with strong emotions. There were obstacles to maintenance of oral health that were difficult to surmount. Knowledge Transfer Statement:The study provides access to the attitudes of survivors of child sexual abuse regarding oral health and the needs and obstacles that they experience. This is important knowledge for dental professionals to optimize dental care.

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Prevalence and Factors Related to Delayed Disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse in Benha region, Egypt during the Period 2016-2018

Ain Shams Journal of Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology ◽

10.21608/ajfm.2020.102264 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 14-22

Author(s):

Fatma Elgazzar ◽

Mohamed Abdelaziz ◽

Heba Khalifa

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

Delayed Disclosure

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‘A Poor Prospect Indeed’: The State’s Disavowal of Child Abuse Victims in Youth Custody, 1960–1990

Societies ◽

10.3390/soc9020027 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 27 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jarman ◽

Lanskey

Keyword(s):

Sexual Abuse ◽

Child Abuse ◽

Child Sexual Abuse ◽

Duty Of Care ◽

Discretionary Power ◽

Criminal Trials ◽

England And Wales ◽

Penal Institutions ◽

Original Documentary ◽

Independent Inquiry

Child abuse in youth custody in England and Wales is receiving an unprecedented degree of official attention. Historic allegations of abuse by staff in custodial institutions which held children are now being heard by the courts and by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), and some criminal trials have resulted in convictions. A persistent question prompted by these investigations is that of why the victims of custodial child abuse were for so long denied recognition as such, or any form of redress. Drawing on original documentary research, this article aims to explain why and how state authorities in England and Wales failed to recognise the victimisation of children held in penal institutions between 1960 and 1990, and argues that this failure constitutes a disavowal of the state’s responsibility. We show that the victims of custodial child abuse were the victims of state crimes by omission, because the state failed to recognise or to uphold a duty of care. We argue further that this was possible because the occupational cultures and custodial practices of penal institutions failed to recognise the structural and agentic vulnerabilities of children. Adult staff were granted enormous discretionary power which entitled them to act (and to define their actions) without effective constraint. These findings, we suggest, have implications for how custodial institutions for children should think about the kinds of abuse which are manifest today.

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