気ままなリライト２７
A non-profit organization is raising funds for the cost of transforming the old room into a new forensic interview room for alleged victims of child abuse through crowdfunding. The current forensic interview room is carrying an overwhelming burden to deal with an increasing number of child-abuse cases. Setting up another room in a child-friendly location is of vital importance for children to be interviewed properly during child abuse investigations. The NPO is expecting web users interested in child abuse cases to develop empathy with victimized children by raising public awareness of how forensic interviewing is being conducted for child abuse investigations as a way of improving child welfare in a child-friendly atmosphere.
Forensic interviewing introduced in 2015 has changed the interviewing process during child abuse investigations for a more child-friendly. Before the introduction, alleged victimized children were put in a more vulnerable position to voice what happened to them. They had to put up with the number of interviews with law enforcement officers, welfare professionals in different locations. Forensic interviewing enabled a multidisciplinary team to streamline the interviewing process to yield factual information enough to stand up to scrutiny in court from alleged victimized children without coercion or leading questions. While the face-to-face interview is done by only one trained professional, other professionals observe the interview either from behind a one-way mirror or by using a real-time video link. Over 2,000 forensic interviews were conducted in fiscal 2020 during child abuse investigations, according to the Ministry of Justice.
Forensic interviewing prevailing in child welfare cases has put importance on the role of the NPO called Tsunagg Children’s Advocacy Center in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture. Since 2019, Tsunagg has coordinated medical, mental health support necessary for physically or sexually abused children through forensic interviews conducted in a rented room inside Kanagawa Children’s Medical Center in Yokohama City. The NPO has spun as many plates as they can by handling child abuse cases in the rented forensic interview room as an alternative venue to prosecutors’ offices where many forensic interviews are being conducted.
Tsunagg’s representative director, Kei Hida says, “To save children the trouble of going to prosecutors’ offices children are unfamiliar with, we are pursuing a more child-friendly atmosphere in the setting of a new forensic interview room by refurbishing the old building in the premises of Kanagawa Children’s Medical Center.” Access to the forensic interview room is designed to bypass the reception area where outpatients are gathering. The sense of being in hospital gives children with a history of physical or sexual abuse peace of mind. Therapeutic effects are more likely to be enhanced in the relaxed and cheerful atmosphere of the waiting room adjacent to the interview room. That is advantageous to medical or mental health professionals who help victims cope with the trauma they have experienced through the interviews.