scholarly journals Forensic Interview of Sexually Abused Children: The Case of Three Selected Child Protection and Investigation Units in Addis Ababa

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-79
Author(s):  
Tensae Gebrekrstos Gebreegziabher
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Sexually Abused ◽  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Thick Description ◽  
Abused Children ◽  
Forensic Interview ◽  
Interview Techniques ◽  
Sexually Abused Children

This study examines the application of forensic interview methods used in police investigations to gather evidence from sexually abused children. The investigating police officers need a range of skills related to interviewing victims, helpful in the course of detecting suspects. An effective interview is therefore a milestone to the investigating officers, plan a new way of eliciting relevant information from additional sources. Typically, interviewing requires the police to attempt to identify the type of sex crime considering the phases of pre, present, and post crime acts. The study used a qualitative method to explore the opinions of informants in depth. Seventeen participants were drawn from seven investigating police officers, three public prosecutors, three social workers, and four administrators selected using a purposive sampling technique. Data pertinent to the study were gathered using unstructured and key-informant interview techniques. Besides, observation and document reviews were employed to complement the data solicited from both sources. Thematic analysis was applied to give a thick description of data opinionated by informants. The study shows that investigating police officers are poorly acquainted with the interview techniques established by the Federal Supreme Court Interview Techniques Guideline. The guideline explicitly advocates the police officers' use of free narrative open-ended questions implying ample room to the child to describe the situation of the abuse in his/her own words. The study conveys the message that the police officers should take a series of training on forensic interviews and design the landscape where regular feedback, supervision, and stress management mechanisms will regularly be exchanged.

scholarly journals Legal Societal System Intervention Trauma to Child Sexual Abuse Victims Following Disclosure in the Lusaka Urban District of Zambia

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anselimo Boniface Mbuzi ◽  
Mwiya L. Imasiku
Keyword(s):  
Police Officers ◽  
Sexually Abused ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Phase 1 ◽  
Health Hazard ◽  
Healing Process ◽  
Trauma Symptoms ◽  
Urban District ◽  
Abused Children ◽  
Sexually Abused Children

The rigorous hospital, police and legal procedures through which sexually abused children go through can further increase the level of trauma if not done professionally. If these procedures are performed in a sensitive and knowledgeable manner this can lead to an expedited healing process for the child who is sexually traumatised. Trauma is not just a health hazard but a condition that can impair full disclosure of required details by a child who has been sexually abused. In Phase 1, four in-depth case studies of children who were sexually abused were carried out using the qualitative method of one to one oral interviews. Phase II involved an investigation into the relationship between societal interventions such as court procedures and trauma levels in fifty sexually abused children. The tool that was used to assess or to measure the level of trauma and determine the amount of stress experienced by each child was the Trauma Symptoms Checklist for children. This instrument was developed by John Biere (1989). The data obtained was analysed using descriptive analysis. The police officers, the social workers and health workers indicated that they had interviewed 50 per cent of the sexually abused children three times while the remaining 10 per cent reported to have been interviewed more than three times. It was further reported that each child had an average of three cross examinations in the courts of law. The Trauma Symptoms Check List revealed that twenty five (50%) of sexually abused children who had been separated from their primary care-givers exhibited more stress and trauma than their counterparts. It was also found that fifteen of the sexually abused children who were taken to the juvenile courts of law exhibited less stress and trauma than their colleagues who were taken to the regular adult courts. It was also observed that 75 per cent of the sexually abused children who indicated that they had trusting relationships with the professionals expressed being at ease with them. This study indicates that certain types of societal system interventions such as multiple questioning, more than three interviews, child-mother or care-giver separation, inadequate trust during the investigation, court procedures and social service phases, further traumatised sexually abused children.

scholarly journals Why Cleveland Still Matters: Connections with a New Era

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Bacon ◽  
Susan Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Child Abuse ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Sexually Abused ◽  
Abused Children ◽  
New Era ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Sexually Abused Children

This chapter explores the lasting impact of 1987 Cleveland child abuse crisis in the UK in which 127 children were diagnosed by two paediatricians as having been sexually abused. It highlights how this resulted in tensions, misunderstandings and stresses in the interface between the public and the child protection system, and persistent challenges of creating and sustaining a successful multidisciplinary approach to intervention and protection. It argues that the experience in Cleveland provided unique information about the effects of intervening in child sexual abuse, especially where children are trapped in silence and only come to light by way of a proactive intervention. These children remain difficult to help and the best way of intervening remains contentious. The authors challenge the ethos that leaves sexually abused children vulnerable in the face of investigative and evidential hurdles and suggest ways forward.

Sexually Abused Children: Identification and Suggestions for Intervention

1983 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marla R. Brassard ◽  
Ann Tyler ◽  
Thomas J. Kehle
Keyword(s):  
Sexually Abused ◽  
Abused Children ◽  
Sexually Abused Children
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