The child sexual assault trial

Abstract

It is widely accepted that there is a strong association between experiences of sexual assault and the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), so that rates of PTSD amongst child sexual assault (CSA) complainants are likely to be high. Because of its authoritarian and adversarial culture, trauma-triggers leading to re-traumatisation are common in the courtroom setting, thus impeding a child’s ability to give their best evidence. This chapter considers how court spaces can be reconceptualised to enhance the benefits of remote witness facilities for CSA complainants through the principles of trauma-informed care (TIC), thus providing a framework for understanding the benefits of current reforms and to introduce further reforms so as to better protect children from re-traumatisation. We hypothesise that more victims of CSA might be willing to participate in adversarial trials if the design of courtrooms, courthouses, and the trial processes within them were more explicitly governed and informed by TIC principles. The chapter concludes that the public health concept of TIC can be used to enact both cultural and environmental change through transformation of the criminal trial into a trauma-informed system. Such a system would feature enhanced remote witness facilities and trauma-informed processes that are designed to combat the impacts of trauma on a child’s court experience, with the aim of reducing the potential for re-traumatisation and allowing children to give their best evidence.