Forensic evaluation of child sexual abuse

Abstract

Being typically the weaker party, an alleged victim of child sexual abuse (CSA) particularly warrants the court’s protection of one’s rights and interests and the assurance of receiving a fair and just outcome. It can be extremely hard for the child to disclose abuse, due to fear of retaliation from the abuser, manipulation that makes one believe that the abuse is one’s fault or that the victim will not be believed, shame and guilt, lack of awareness, a sense of loyalty or love towards the abuser and lack of support. On the one hand, a safe and supportive environment for children, where they feel empowered to disclose abuse is crucial. This includes building trust, providing education on abuse prevention, and maintaining open lines of communication. On the other hand, however, accusations of CSA are not always genuine. At times, the child denies or recants the abuse initially reported or the child may develop false memories of non-existent events or may deliberately lie about being abused or a concerned or mentally ill adult sincerely misunderstands some words or action of the child while there was no abuse or an adult or other child can make a malicious false accusation to achieve some specific aim.