Children s house Multi-agency and Interdisciplinary Approach to Child

Children´s house Multi-agency and Interdisciplinary Approach to Child Sexual Abuse Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

Before Children´s house Lack of coordination between the CPS, Police, Prosecution and Health Services Lack of specialisation Lack of interdisciplinary approach Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

The child was subjected to. . . repeated interviews conducted by many interviewers in different locations. . . discrepancies in disclosure children in rural areas did not get appropriate assessment, treatment and support revictimization / retraumatisation Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

The investigation generated painful experiences for the child Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir - Children´s house

Objectives of Children´s house Not to harm the child! To facilitate cooperation between the CPS, Police, Prosecution, Court judges and the Health Services in child sexual abuse cases To conduct valid interviews of children in forensic contexts and for the CPS To ensure that the child victim receives appropriate assessment, treatment and support Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

Basic functions Child sexual abuse from ages 3 ½ - 18 years. Joint forensic interviews CPS prelimanery forensic interviews Medical examination Victim therapy and famely counseling Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir - Children´s house

Forensic Interviews The importance of a “child friendly” setting The interview protocol (to avoid suggestibility and increase reliability) The specialised interviewer: All trained in the USA in forensic interviewing, background in psychology, pedagogy and criminology. Specially designed interview room (closed circuit television) The DVD record: used for different purposes: medical exams, assessment and therapy IT-link to one courthouse Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

The interview room Small room Child friendly Videocamera Information about who are watching Those watching have a change to ask questions through the interviewer Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir - Children´s house

The Joint forensic Interview The Court Judge is in charge of the procedure Cases are usually referred to the CPS, then to the police that referres request to the judge for the interview The Court Judge decides where the interview takes place and who interviews the child. Present (in a seperate room) The Prosecution, Police, CPS representative, the Child’s Legal Advocate, the Defence lawyer, the Alleged Offender(exceptional in reality) Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

The CPS preliminary forensic interview At the request of the CPS Disclosure is absent or very weak/ambigous Offender is below the age of criminal responsibility(15 years) Only one staffmember from the CPS present (in a seperate room) Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

After the forensic interview Usually one interview The Court Judge gets DVD The police gets DVD Children´s house gets DVD The doctors get informations about the interview and can watch the DVD in Children´s house Therapist gets informations about the interview and can also watch the DVD. Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

The Medical Examination At the request of the Police, the CPS, the Child or the Parents Implemented by experienced paediatrician, a gynaecologist and a nurse A child friendly examination room The use of “video-colposcope” and it´s therapeutic value Anaesthetization exceptional Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

Victim therapy and family counselling Victim therapy can start soon after the investigative interview The non-offending parent(s) receive counselling from the child´s therapist Cognitive-behavioural therapy (trauma based, TB-CBT) The therapist is never the same person that takes the investigative interview Therapy is practiced in the countryside if needed The therapist is most often important witness in court proceedings Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

Children´s house 1999 -2007 Number of children “Investigative 1428 interviews” Treatment 822 Medical exam Average per year 178, 5 102, 75 192 24 Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

“Investigative interviews” Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

Young offenders Between ages 12 -18 years Usually more then five years age different Altogether 268 from 1999 -2007 18, 7 % of offenders Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

Charges Year Total Omitt- Charged Acquied tted Convicted 48 -60 % 2002 34 21 13 3 10 2003 60 33 27 6 21 2004 58 28 29 8 21 2005 35 17 16 7 9 2006 59 34 23 2 19 Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

Children´s age when interviewed Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

Nature of the abuse Research findings from Children´s house (research by Gisli H. Gudjonssen, Jon F. Sigurdsson, Thorbjörg Sveinsdóttir and Jóhanna K. Jónsdóttir) Girls are about 70% and boys 30% of children intervewed About 80% of children in joint investigative interviews (judge) disclose sexual abuse in Children´s house About 25% of children in CPS interviews disclose sexual abuse, mostly conducted by young offenders More than 80% of the children knew the offender The younger the child, the less likely it is to disclose (perhaps both because of developmental issues, but also because of more refferals without former disclosure, etc. . child sexual behavior, sexual games) About half of the children disclose that abuse happened once and about half that it happened more than onece, thereof 17% more than ten times Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

Seriousness of the violations Children in the two youngest agebands (3 ½-5 and 69) did not disclose abuse on stage 1(sexual talk, kisses on face, touching of none privat parts) and very few on stage 2 (showing nudety, porn, touching of none private parts inside clothes) Most of the violations in those agebands prooved to be on stage 4 (attemting penetration) but none was on stage 5 (sexual intercourse) Violations on stage 5 mostly occurred in the ageband 12 -14 In the oldest ageband (15 -17) almost as many violations were in stages 4 and 5 In the older agebands, some violations were on stages 1, 2 and 3 expecially in ageband 9 -11 Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

Almost four year experience: Signs of progress Efficient, professional and child – friendly work procedures and case management Re-victimization of the child victim minimised Appropriate therapeutic services secured Mutual professional trust among the different agencies Assimilation of knowledge and experience Increased public awareness and confidence in the authorities Increased “rate of discovery” Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir Children´s house

Before Children´s house The process was stressful for the child and immediate family Ineffective system / different systems working individually The process was unpredictable for the child victim and difficult to understand Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir - Children´s house

Children´s house has contributed to. . . Reduced stress for the child and immediate family Provide more effective system / holistic approach Cooperation The process is more transparent and comprehensible for the child victim All children in Iceland have the same opportunity, at least to treatment Database Research Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir - Children´s house

We must think first of the child´s best interest Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir - Children´s house