Reliability of Forensic Interview with Child Victim of Sexual Abuse in Turkey

Abstract

In cases of child sexual abuse, sometimes the only evidence may be the statement of the victim child. It is only recent phenomenon in Turkey that forensic interviews with child victims of sexual abuse prioritize the child victims and they are administered in a careful and delicate way that would not cause secondary traumatization, and they are conducted by professionals educated. Child advocacy centers and forensic interview rooms are formations where forensic interviews are conducted with children who are victims of sexual abuse. In this article, credibility of forensic interviews conducted with sexually abused child victims are covered on the basis of practices in child advocacy centers. From this point of view, the place of child abuse in Turkish law, institutional practices on this issue and the importance of coordination among institutions are mentioned. Subsequently, the importance of forensic interview for the investigation conducted with the child is explained, and basis components of the forensic interview process are listed. Afterwards, the characteristics of widely used protocols for forensic interviews in the world are mentioned and the credibility of victim’s statement effect and elements affecting the trustworthiness are touched upon. Last, the failures experienced in the system which includes forensic interviews in Turkey and suggestions to remedy these are assessed. Forensic interview should be done within the framework of a joint meeting protocol, increasing the frequency of forensic interviewer supervision training and making it compulsory, public prosecutor, judge, law enforcement officer and professionals working in the child protection system should also participate in the training of forensic interview with the child and consideration of all factors in the credibility evaluation of the forensic interview has been the suggestions conveyed in the light of the relevant literature.