Child sexual abuse (CSA) is one of the most deplorable crimes, which interferes with a child's mental and physical integrity. Because of this strange and incomprehensible experience a child faces feelings of guilt and shame, which makes him ask himself if he should speak up about the abuse. While the experience of abuse is traumatic itself, theory and clinical practice found that judicial procedures of proving sexual abuse in children often do not offer adequate procedural protection, which causes retraumatization or repeatedly caused trauma. Statistics show that investigating and proving proceedings in Slovenia are, despite European guidelines, seriously lacking in the implementation of a child-friendly justice system. The main topic of the master's thesis is the disclosure of judicial mechanisms, judicial procedures and forensic interviews with children, with the author mentioning some examples of good practice from foreign countries and suggestions for procedural improvements. With the use of the phenomenological-psychological method, the author gained insight into the experiences of mothers who, along with children, went through the judicial process of proving sexual abuse in court. Five women participated in the study and answered the main research question of »How do relatives experience legal proceedings in proving sexual abuse in the context of the child's well-being?«. The analysis of the results showed that the judicial procedure is a stressful event for both children and parents and additionally triggers a recurrence of the trauma or at least elements of post-traumatic stress disorder. This was, according to the participants, caused by too lengthy procedures and deferred action at court; multifaceted problems of interviewing children and a general sense of systemic unprotection of the child. The participants also showed the possibility of post-traumatic growth as a result of some mitigating circumstances in the process, their own sources of internal power or external help in psychosocial/psychotherapeutic support. The results of the research confirm the scientific discoveries and knowledge of the profession with the Council of Europe at the head, which orders the Republic of Slovenia to modernize the legislation in a more child-friendly way, including the implementation of appropriate preventive measures against sexual abuse.
|