A Study of Forensic Interviewing in Child Sexual Abuse Cases

• Main Authors: WEN , LING-YU, 溫翎佑
• Other Authors: Huang ,Tsui-Wen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/59e46p

博士 === 中央警察大學 === 警察政策研究所 === 107 === The Sexual Assault Crime Prevention Act was amended in 2017 to announce the addition of 15-1 Article took forensic interviewer into Taiwan. The Act was formally implemented since 2017. In order to understand the issue of operation and the impact on the child sexual assault inquiry, the author of this research interviewed 13 subjects including prosecutors, police officers, experts with rich inquiry experience and related business undertakers. This research found that experts and scholars have already assisted the judicial inquiry of children Sexual Assault with special needs before the implementation of Article 15-1. In Taiwan, forensic interview system was funded for the requirement of NGO to improve the inquiry of police officers. This system has indeed helped to enhance the inquiry (information) ability of the investigators. The current mode of field operation still maintained to carry out children Sexual Assault inquiry by the trained investigators. And most of forensic interviewer were asked to be assistants during the inquiry . The reason is that the training content of the forensic interview in the Ministry of Health and Welfare is more suitable for the investigators, but it is not customized to train an expert of child sexual assault victim inquiry. Besides, due to the gap exists between the forensic interviewer ability and the needs of the police and the judiciary, it will affect the willingness of the police and the judiciary to hire a forensic interviewer to do inquiry. In addition, the supervision, management and regulations of forensic interviewer system are not yet established. On the executive side, there are some problems to deal with such as that listed forensic interviewers are unable to obtain more investigation information during assisting inquiries, there is no Model for Early Identification of Sexual Assault Case by Professional Group to absorb the use of forensic interviewers, team integration is not easy, etc. Compared to the Early Identification of Sexual Assault Case by Professional Group, the trust for forensic interviewers, who are listed professionals, is low. Those problems may adversely affect the long-term development of the forensic interviewer system in Taiwan. To implement the system of forensic interviewer effectively and to protect the interest of sexual assault child victims, this study suggests that the forensic interviewer system maintains the current dual-track system, which accounts for higher proportion of general sexual assault child victims. Based on the principle of quotation and economic efficiency, trained prosecutors and enforcement officers should be in charge of inquiry. For a small number of sexual assault child victims with special needs, the author advises to make it flexible to let the forensic interviewers, who are professional, carry out the inquiry. Moreover, there are five recommendations to the enforcement officers and the court. First, the structured protocol should be promoted and applied continuously, which could enhance the quality of the inquiry of the police officers and prosecutors. Second, the education of the police should be incorporated into the forensic interview course. And the certificate issued by the Ministry of Justice should be reissued regularly. Third, submit the type of forensic interviewer base on the field demand. Forth, establish a cooperative mechanism. And the last, continuously assess of the applicability of the forensic interview protocol and adjust the current laws as response. There are five suggestions for Ministry of Health and Welfare. First, establish a management mechanism of forensic interviewers. Second, inventory the current capacity of listed forensic interviewers. Third, review the current training and inspection system. Forth, listed forensic interviewer should respond to the needs of the judicial and judicial authorities in inquiry. Fifth, raise the funds of the Early Identification of Sexual Assault Case for the sexual assault child victims with special needs.