Child sexual abuse is a subject that has been receiving increasing attention every year. Sexual abuse fails to be encompassed by a single definition. However, as defined in terms of the field dealing with it, it can be roughly stated that it is a physical domination of an adult over a child with predominantly sexual content. The introductory part of the master’s thesis provides the definition of sexual abuse, its brief historical development, and its position in the Slovenian Criminal Code currently in force. A concise introduction follows presenting the three main international documents in the protection of the rights of the child in the European international space. Chapter three is the core part of the master’s thesis, where the author identifies and describes the main reasons leading to the need in Slovenia to adopt the Protection of Children in Criminal Procedure and their Comprehensive Treatment in Children’s House Act. The issue of the inadequately regulated situation of children and minors in the Slovenian Criminal Procedure Act is not new, but for a long time, warnings had been voiced on the discriminatory treatment of victims and witnesses of the criminal offence of sexual abuse, too frequent interrogation, and the consequent occurrence of adverse effects of secondary victimisation and inadequate professional training. The master’s thesis aims at contributing to better understanding why the field in question needed a rearrangement and wholly new measures to be taken to protect the best interests of the child. The Protection of Children in Criminal Procedure and their Comprehensive Treatment in Children’s House Act is presented in the last part of the thesis, where the author also describes the development of the first safe house in the field of sexual abuse in the United States and presents the European project Barnahus. The master’s thesis is concluded by an insight into practice, where three experts, through interviews, outline a realistic situation of the issue in practice.
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