Excerpt from DPP Newsletter : Child Sexual Abuse seen from a psycho-socio-legal Perspective

A workshop was organised at the Institute for Judicial and Legal Studies in Mauritius on “Child Sexual Abuse seen from a psycho-socio-legal perspective”. Among the panellists were present: Professor Jogin Thakore, Senior Psychiatrist and Professor from Ireland; Dr Poonam Bissessur, Director of PEDOSTOP; Mrs Ranee Nundah, Coordinator at Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare; Mr Ismael Bawamia, Ombudsperson for Children’s Office; Mrs Johan Moutou-Leckning, Senior Assistant DPP; Mrs Angélique Desvaux de Marigny; and Hon. Mrs Razia Janoo-Jaunbocus, Intermediate Court Magistrate.

The workshop started with a presentation by Professor Thakore on child sexual abuse (‘CSA’). He explained how the definition of CSA was so wide-ranging that it comprises either physical and non-physical contact, for example filming or photography. Professor Thakore emphasised on the problem of CSA by looking at the Global Status Report on Violence Prevention 2014 from the World Health Organisation.

He also explained the risk factors for CSA, which comprised poverty, domestic violence, etc. He analysed the consequences that CSA has on the victim, namely behavioural & physical and added that CSA can also negatively impact the education of the victim.

Professor Thakore explained that most cases of CSA are unreported due to barriers that the victim faces, such as limited support, guilt or shame. The child often thinks that it is his/her fault that it happened and thus fears to disclose it.

He stressed on the importance of having facilitators to disclosing cases of sexual abuse, such as prevention programmes which would involve the family and the teacher so they are better prepared to identify cases of CSA and be able to handle the child victim.

He talked about psychotherapeutic interventions for CSA which has been proven effective with victims of CSA. He also talked about prevention methods that could be applied to ensure that children do not find themselves victims of CSA. Some of the preventive methods mentioned by Professor Thakore was developing a safe, stable and nurturing relationship with the child; developing life skills in children and adolescents; and victim identification, care and support programmes.

He added that a nurturing relationship enables children to develop a higher IQ, which leads to higher earnings and reductions in violence as they are less likely to manifest depressive symptoms.

As a concluding remark, in order to reduce the number of CSA cases, he proposed that children should be taught about CSA through school-based educational programmes as in 2002, 150 millions of girls and 73 millions of boys were subject to CSA.

Dr Poonam Kangloo Bissessur was the second speaker. Her intervention was mainly focused on the prevalence of CSA in Mauritius. She stated that only 10% to 30% of CSA are reported. Many of the victims of CSA do not disclose their problem for fear of not being believe, or because they feel like it was their fault, or fear of incomprehension or retaliation.

The victims are embarrassed, guilty, ashamed, and sometimes unaware that they disclose their problem for fear of not being believed, or because they feel like it was their fault, or fear of incomprehension or retaliation. The victims are embarrassed, guilty, ashamed, and sometimes unaware that they are being abused.

In cases where the child is abused by a member of his/her own family, they are afraid of losing that parent, they have a fear of separation which prevents them from reporting the CSA case.

She analysed the question of whether children are liars. According to her, it is rare for children to lie. They are most likely to lie as a result of manipulation by an adult. The consequence of CSA on a child is vast and includes substance abuse, risk of suicide and delinquency.

She also emphasised on the fact that even women can commit acts of sexual abuse. She talked about the methods and process of offenders to lure the child so they can be abused, such as offering them gifts or privileges.

The third speaker was Mrs Ranee Nundah, who talked about the “Roles and limits of the CDU and the challenges faced with victims”. She gave an overview of the Child Protection Act 1994 which makes it mandatory for teachers, doctors, dental surgeons or other adults directly in contact with the child to report cases of abuse. She mentioned the Oasis Residential Day Care Centre which was inaugurated in 2014 and is a refuge for children who has been victims of sexual abuse.

Amongst other things, Mrs Nundah also mentioned the constraints that the CDU (‘Child Development Unit’) officers face in their work as well as proposals to make the CDU headquarters less intimidating for the children. Proposals for reform included:

• A child friendly corner for the recording of statement as often children have to wait for hours to be taken to the hospital for their medical examination and treatment;

• The decentralisation of police medical examination, as right now it is only provided for in Victoria Hospital and at Line Barracks;

• Fast-track system at Court level as children tend to forget when they grow up;

• A child friendly room at Court so they do not have to be faced with the austere environment of the court or to face their abuser.

After Mrs Nundah’s intervention, Mr Ismael Bawamia played a documentary on CSA which consisted of parents and children narrating their stories from the day of the abuse till the day of the trial. They talked about the problems they faced when reporting their case, and how they sometimes felt like they had no recourse to any help.

After that documentary, Mrs Johan Moutou-Leckning intervened on the legal aspects of CSA from the prosecution side. She started her presentation with figures on the number of cases of sexual abuse registered and the definition of ‘child’ in various legislations. She gave examples of what constitutes CSA, such as child trafficking, child abandonment, child prostitution and child pornography, amongst others. She analysed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1990 and the protective and preventive measures mentioned in the Convention. She then contrasted those articles with our local legislations.

Mrs Moutou-Leckning also gave an overview of the Child Victim and Witness Support Unit at the Office of the DPP including why the unit was created and the objectives of the unit. She talked about the achievements of the unit such as the publication of ‘Tanya so zistwar’ which explains in caricature the different stages involved in relation to assistance given by police and the court to victims of sexual assault.

Mrs Moutou-Leckning then addressed the possible barriers which hinder justice to victims and witnesses of CSA. She gave a definition of victim and how judges and juries unfamiliar with the dynamics of sexual assault may overlook offender’s grooming tactics or misperceive common victim reactions to abuse as evidence of the victim’s lack of credibility.

She stressed on the importance of understanding the offender’s grooming technique. She also briefly mentioned why most cases of CSA remains unreported, which are trouble, shame, love for the abuser.

She then gave tips to prosecutors and how they should approach inter familial sexual assaults in a coordinated multidisciplinary manner to minimize the consequences of delay in reporting. Mrs Moutou-Leckning also gave a brief overview of the investigation and the trial stage.

The investigation stage included guidelines to be followed where the abuser is a parent or a relative and how forensic interviews should be conducted. She talked about legal assistance which our law provides. She concluded her presentation with proposals and recommendations as to the areas of the law which needs to be amended as so to better provide protection to victims of CSA.

It was then for Mrs Angélique Desvaux de Marigny to talk on the legal aspects of CSA from the defence side. She talked about the difficulties faced by the victims of CSA and their family when having to report a case of sexual abuse. And how the CDU does not take any statement from the parents and they are redirected to their local police stations or the CCID.

She emphasised on the fact that police officers have no training on how to deal with children, and sometimes they ask inappropriate questions which forces the child to shut off. She proposed that a special training should be given to enquiring officers on how to deal with children and what kind of questions they should be asking as well as non-verbal techniques to be able to record the statement of the child such as drawings or anatomical models.

Mrs Angélique Desvaux de Marigny also talked about the different options available to children victim of CSA, for instance section 161B of the Courts Act gives the court the discretion to allow a child victim to depose by video conference. She stated that medical examinations at the hospital can be quite a traumatising event for the child and the Police Medical Officer needs to be debriefed as to the enquiring process so he does not repeatedly asks the same questions.

Honourable Mrs Razia Janoo-Jaunbocus, in her intervention, talked about the court process of CSA. She explained the competency of a child witness and how a CSA case is approached in Court. She emphasised on the fact that all child victims are heard in camera and video link is available if and when counsel makes a motion.

She also stressed that there is no legal aid in Mauritius for child victims and that all the information received is from the CDU. Hon. Mrs Razia Janoo-Jaunbocus also gave an overview of the sentencing pattern for cases of CSA and talked about some of the cases that she encountered.

This concluded the workshop on child sexual abuse with the realisation that there is still much which needs to be done in order to provide a better protection regime for victims of sexual abuse. The workshop proved to be very fruitful with a lot of interesting proposals put forward from the interveners.

Mrs Johan Moutou-Leckning
Senior Assistant DPP
Pooja Domun & Neelam Nemchand
Legal Research Officers