Children´s house

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

2. 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

3. 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

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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. After the forensic interview • Usually only 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 • The Therapist gets informations about the interview and can also watch the DVD. Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir - Children´s house

12. 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

13. 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

14. Children´s house 1999-2007 Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir - Children´s house

15. “Investigative interviews” Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir - Children´s house

16. Young offenders • Between ages 12-18 years • Usually more then five years age different • Altogether268 from 1999-2007 • 18,7 % of offenders Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir - Children´s house

17. Charges Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir - Children´s house

18. Children´s age when interviewed Thorbjorg Sveinsdottir - Children´s house

19. 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

20. Seriousness of the violations • Children in the two youngest agebands (3 ½-5 and 6-9) 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 ageband12-14 • 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

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