Studying preconditions for introducing the new practice of interrogating a child victim of sexual ab by wcu wcu

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Organization: Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Consortium of Ukraine supported by BICE (Bureau International Catholique de lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Enfance) and OAK Foundation. Author: Yevheniia Slozka Editor: Oleksiy Lazarenko Partners: NGOs, independent experts. Period: June - November 2015

Content Summary ....................................................................4 Section 1. Methodology and statistics .........................5 Research Methodology .............................................5 Definition and Statistics of Crimes Related to Sexual Violence .....................................................8

Case proceedings in court .....................................23 The interrogation procedure in court ....................23 The meeting of a child victim of sexual violence (the victim) and the perpetrator (the defendant) .............................24 Options to avoid interrogation in court ...................25

Summary of the most common features of objects (victims) and subjects (perpetrators) of crimes involving sexual violence against children .................10

Obstacles to using video recording of the child’s interrogation in court as evidence ..........................26

Detecting and preventing crimes involving sexual violence against children .........................................11

Terms of using video recording of the child’s interrogation in court as evidence in a case of sexual violence against him/her ..........................26

Section 2. The practices of interrogating/ questioning child victims of sexual violence ..........12 The number of questionings/interrogations and types of them ....................................................12 Pre-trial investigation ...............................................13 Pre-investigation check ...........................................13 Questioning by the investigative operative police group ............................................13 Interrogation by the investigator during the pre-investigation check.......................................13

Interrogation involving the investigating judge during the pre-trial investigation .........................................27 Involvement of various agencies and services into investigation of sexual abuse of a child ...................28 Conclusions: drawbacks of the current practices of interrogation of child victims of sexual violence .............................30 Section 3. Factors contributing to implementation of friendly interrogation of child victims of sexual violence ....................................................32

Questioning by Juvenile Prevention Unit of the National Police ...............................................13

Pilot projects to establish specially equipped premises for interrogating/questioning of child victims of sexual violence or human trafficking .......32

Official interrogation .................................................14

The «Green Room» method ......................................32

Causes of repeated interrogations ..........................15

Technical capacity for interrogating children in court under international standards .....................40

Persons present at interrogation and their role ........16 Interrogation premises .............................................18 Recording testimony of the child during interrogation .................................................18 Using video recording of an interrogation of a child at the pre-trial and trial phases ................19 Cross-examination (face-to-face confrontation) ......20 Forensic examination .............................................20

Programs to combat sexual violence and human trafficking implemented by public and non-governmental organizations .............................42 Training programs for those involved in interrogation of child victims of sexual abuse .............................44 Conclusions and recommendations ........................45 Recommendations based on findings of the report ..............................................................48

Psychological and psychiatric examination ..............22

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Summary According to data from various sources, sexual violence against children in Ukraine has acquired an alarming scale. Results of surveys among children show that every fifth child in Ukraine has been subject to various forms of sexual violence. In more than 80% of such cases the perpetrators were people familiar to the children, in 90% of cases violence against children was not reported to the respective authorities. According to information provided by the Ministry of Interior of Ukraine, the overwhelming majority of victims of these criminal offenses are girls. The highest percentage of these crimes have been registered in rural areas. Besides, the study found that most often victims of crimes involving sexual violence are children from distressed families, marginalized and socially deprived. Police officers indicate that such criminal offenses are difficult to detect and investigate because the children’s relatives are reluctant to notify law-enforcement agencies for the fear of long investigation and litigation procedures. This can be explained. Because if criminal proceedings start, performance of pre-trial investigation and transfer of the case materials to court take place in practice, the child has to testify at least three times, as it is mandatory that investigators interrogate the victim to establish circumstances of the crime and lay a charge against the perpetrator, as well as questioning in the course of psychological/psychiatric examination in cases of defilement, or questioning forensic medical examination, and testimony in court. However, according to the study’s findings, most often the number of questionings is much higher, and there were cases where children were interrogated more than 100 times. This situation is unacceptable, because it leads to unnecessary traumatizing of the child, because every new report on the events means going through them once again. During the survey, it was discovered that most professionals (investigators, judges, etc.) are not prepared for questioning child victims of sexual abuse. Currently, there are officially regulated requirements for special training for the psychologists to be present during interrogation of a child victim of sexual

abuse. The task of the psychologist is to see to that during interrogation the child is not psychologically traumatized, and help the investigator to establish the necessary contact with him/her. The survey found that most often the place of interrogation is the investigator’s office. The child’s testimonies are in most cases recorded in the protocol. In some cases - the share of which in the total number of interrogations of children who suffered sexual violence it is difficult to measure - they video record the interrogations. In very rare cases, the interrogations are held in a specially designated room, the so-called «green room». However, the survey showed that Ukraine has in place the necessary basis for introduction of the new practices of interrogating child victims of sexual abuse. The experience of using the «Green Room» approach, involving psychologists for interrogations, interrogating victims in court using the video conferencing mode, and accommodation of special rooms in courts - provided the proper regulatory and legal framework, all of that will make it possible to create appropriate algorithms of actions for all parties to criminal proceedings in cases of crimes involving sexual violence against children. Most countries have already proven that it is possible to establish friendly practices of interrogation of children: when he/she comes only once to a special room and provides the necessary evidence. Multidisciplinary teams working in these premises have the opportunity to conduct an appropriate interrogation of the child, to perform psychological/ psychiatric and forensic assessment on the spot. Evidence provided by the child is properly recorded, which ensures the opportunity to use the information obtained in courts. We strongly believe that in Ukraine there are all necessary the preconditions for implementation of friendly interrogation practices. And we hope that this report will contribute into the process.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Section 1. Methodology and statistics Research Methodology The aim of the survey is assessing the situation in Ukraine regarding availability of human and technical resources involved or to be involved for interrogating/questioning of children who suffered sexual violence.

Objectives of the survey: • to analyze the components of crime against sexual integrity of children stipulated in the Criminal Code of Ukraine and summarize the most common features of objects and subjects of crimes involving sexual violence against children; • to assess the situation (quantitative and qualitative parameters) for children who suffered sexual violence, including determining the percentage of children who independently turned to law enforcement authorities with allegations of crimes against their sexual freedom and integrity; • to identify the regions of Ukraine where the greatest number of child victims of sexual violence have been detected; • to analyze the current practices of interrogation/ questioning of child victims of sexual violence; • to analyze implementation of pilot projects aimed at improving the procedures for interrogation/ questioning of child victims of sexual violence, including resulting from human trafficking (at least 4 regions);

• to explore the technical capacity for interrogation/ questioning of children in an environment friendly to them; • to analyze programs implemented by public authorities and NGOs aimed at applying new practices of interrogation/questioning child victims of sexual violence, including resulting from human trafficking and provision of further necessary assistance to such children; • to explore the organization of training professionals work with child victims of sexual violence, i.e. judges, prosecutors, police officers, doctors, psychologists, social workers (curricula, trainings, workshops, seminars, their number, duration, and topics); • to analyze regulatory and legal acts, guidelines, and other internal documents that guide professionals who work with child victims of sexual violence.

Target group: • children who are victims of sexual violence; • professionals working directly with cases of sexual abuse of children, conduct interrogations/questioning of child victims of sexual violence, provide further necessary assistance; • managers of public authorities, institutions, and professionals directly involved into interrogation/ questioning of child victims of sexual violence;

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

• managers and teaching staff of the educational institutions that train the specialists who work directly with cases of sexual abuse of children, conduct interrogation/questioning of child victims of sexual violence; • the civil society organizations that work directly with cases of sexual abuse of children, provide further necessary assistance.

Geography of the survey: the cities of Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernihiv, Schors (Chernihiv Oblast), Kharkiv, Odessa. The methodology and tools: • analysis of regulatory and legal acts; • in-depth interviews with those who are involved into interrogation/questioning of child victims of sexual violence: representatives of the national police, prosecutors, judges, lawyers, employees of social centers and services for children, psychologists;

• expert interviews; • examination of specialized facilities for interrogation/ questioning of child victims of sexual violence, including resulting from human trafficking.

Experts interviewed: • Ihor Hutsulyak, Team Leader of the Council of Europe Strengthening and Protecting Children’s Rights in Ukraine Project; • Maryna Lehenka, Head of the Legal Aid Department, La Strada-Ukraine Center, attorney; • Alyona Krivulya, Manager of the Department for Advisory Support of National Hotlines, La StradaUkraine Center; • Kateryna Borozdina, Manager for Social Issues, La Strada- Ukraine Center; • Tetyana Tsuman, Chair of the Board of the AllUkrainian NGO «The Ukrainian Fund «Well-Being of Children»;

• Yulia Malienko, Project Maager of the All-Ukrainian NGO «The Ukrainian Fund «Well-Being of Children»; • Olena Kustova, Program Manager/Legal Advisor for the US Embassy to Ukraine; • Oksana Horbunova, National Project Coordinator on Combating Human Trafficking, International Organization for Migration; • Tetyana Rudenko, National Project Manager of the OSCE in Ukraine.

The list of respondents of in-depth interviews Police representatives: • 7 investigators (the Main Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine in Odessa region, the Main Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine in the Odessa region, Shchors Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Chernihiv region, the Main Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine in Kharkiv region, the Main Investigation Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine)

• 2 representatives of Juvenile Prevention Units (Juvenile Prevention Unit of the Prevention Department of the National Police of Ukraine and the National Police Directorate in Kyiv) • The duty police officer in the «Green Room» of Solomyansky District Department of the National Police Directorate in Kyiv

Judges: • 7 judges (courts of appeal of Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernihiv regions, the municipal court of IvanoFrankivsk, Holosiyivsky district court of Kyiv, Solomyanskiy district court of Kyiv, Podil district court of Kyiv)

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Representatives of Child Services: • 3 representatives of Child Services from Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv Regional State Administrations

Representatives of Social Protection Centers for Families, Children, and Youth (SPCFCY): • 3 representatives of SPCFCYs (Ivano-Frankivsk Municipal SPCFCY, Chernihiv Regional SPCFCY, and Kharkiv Regional SPCFCY).

Plus: • 2 attorneys who have represented child victims of sexual violence; • 2 prosecutors of Juvenile Justice Unit of Prosecutor Offices in the cities of Kirovohrad and Chernihiv;

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

• a psychologist involved for interrogating child victims of sexual violence.

Definition and Statistics of Crimes Related to Sexual Violence The definition of crimes involving sexual violence against children

Crimes involving sexual violence against children, in accordance with the Ukrainian legislation, are the following: • rape (Article 152 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine); • violent unnatural satisfaction of sexual desire (Article 153 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine); • sexual intercourse with a sexually immature person (Article 155 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine); • debauchery of minors (Article 156 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The problem is that acts related to sexual harassment are not defined as crimes against sexual freedom of a child, as evidenced by the absence of such data in the statistics of the MoI.

Summary Statistics According to information made public by the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Children’s Rights Mykola Kuleba, sexual violence against children in Ukraine has acquired an alarming scale: «Results of surveys among children show that every fifth child in Ukraine has been subject to various forms of sexual violence. In more than 80% of the cases the perpetrators are acquaintances of the children, in 90% of cases violence against children is not reported to the police (http://www.president.gov. ua/news/derzhava-ta-suspilstvo-mayut-obyednatis-uprotidiyi-nasilstv-36327). The official website of the Commissioner publishes the information on the number of crimes against sexual integrity of children in 2015: «Already from the start of this year, 29 children have become victims of rapers (for comparison: in the entire 2014 - 25 children). Law enforcers have initiated 154 criminal proceedings under the article «Debauchery of minors» (208 last year), 26 - under the article «Sexual intercourse with a sexually immature person» (49 last year). And these are only the official figures! How many more cases have not been recorded by the police. Often children become victims of violence and are scared of talking about it. Moreover, adults far not always respond to frank complaints of children! Today, we have discussed with police officers, lawyers, representatives of the Ministry of Social Policy about taking measures to protect children against pedophiles…» (https://www.facebook.com/up.z.prav. dytyny/posts/733428510095603:0?__mref=message_ bubble)

The Juvenile Prevention Unit of the Prevention Department of the National Police of Ukraine (previously the Unit for Combating Crime and Search for Children at the CPDC, MoI of Ukraine), having analyzed the status of countering criminal offense against sexual freedom and sexual integrity of children in 2014, suggested the following figures for crimes registered during the period: • 80 criminal offenses under Article 152 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (rape) committed to minors; • 59 offenses under Article 153 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violent unnatural satisfaction of sexual desire); • 39 offenses under Article 155 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (sexual intercourse with a sexually immature person); • 107 offenses under Article 156 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (debauchery). Out of 6,068 - the total number of child victims of criminal offenses - 299 (5%) were affected by crimes against sexual freedom and sexual integrity, of which 120 (40%) - of debauchery, 80 (27%) - of rape, 60 (20%) - of violent unnatural satisfaction of sexual desire, 39 (13%) - persons who entered into sexual intercourse with a sexually immature person.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

The ratio of preteen and minor victims of crimes against sexual freedom and sexual integrity Article of the CC of Ukraine

Total victims

152

153

155 156

Of them preteen

minor

22.5

77.5

28.2

71.8

120

56.6

43.3

The regions where the greatest number of child victims of sexual violence have been detected According to data of the above mentioned unit of the National Police of Ukraine, the greatest number of crimes against sexual freedom and sexual integrity of children have been registered in the following regions: • cases of rape (Article 152 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) - Odesa (10), Dnipropetrovsk (9), Volyn, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv regions and the city of Kyiv (5 each). • cases of violent unnatural satisfaction of sexual desire (Article 153 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) - in Kyiv (10), Cherkassy (7), and Dnipropetrovsk (5) regions;

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

• cases of sexual intercourse with minors (Article 155 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) - in Kharkiv (7), Dnipropetrovsk (4), Vinnytsia, and Khmelnytsky (3) regions; • debauchery of minors (Article 156 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) - in Kyiv (28), Dnipropetrovsk (12), Lviv, Cherkasy (10 each), and Vinnytsia (9) regions.

Summary of the most common features of objects (victims) and subjects (perpetrators) of crimes involving sexual violence against children The victim of a crime associated with sexual violence (the object of the crime)

According to information provided by the Ministry of Interior of Ukraine, the overwhelming majority of victims of these criminal offenses are girls. The highest percentage of these crimes have been registered in rural areas. The study found that often victims of sexual crimes are children from poor distressed families registered as families in difficult circumstances: «Mostly, and this is not only in our unit but in Odessa region in general, such cases take place in low-income families with no particular wealth or care of the child» (a senior investigator of the Investigation Department of the MDNP in Odessa region). But one cannot say that victims of such crimes are only children from disadvantaged families: «There have been different families. Normal, well-to-do ones, and troubled» (investigator criminologist of the Investigation Department of the MDNP in Odessa region).

As for perception by children of the situations where they become victims of crimes involving sexual violence, actions that infringe upon their sexual freedom and integrity, the following reactions could be mentioned: lack of the child’s understanding of that something bad is happening to him/her; feelings of shame and confusion; feelings of helplessness and depression because of intimidation and manipulation by the perpetrator. However, some children do not understand that commission of sexual acts to them is an abnormal phenomenon and that adults must not do this to them.

The perpetrator (the subject of an offense associated with sexual violence against children) In the cases described by respondents in the study, In Luhansk region, mentally disordered A. raped his perpetrators of children were the following persons: twelve-year old sister at their place of residence. • stepfather; In Kharkiv region, P., being intoxicated with alcohol, in • father; the absence of parents of a five-year old girl at home, • native brother; raped her. • godfather; In Luhansk region, I., previously convicted, in the • neighbor; house of his former concubine, threatening with a • secondary school teacher; knife, took her thirteen-year old daughter, then took • music teacher; her to an abandoned place and raped in an unnatural • ex-lover; way. • sex tourist from another country. There are many cases where sexual abuse of young According to data of the MoI of Ukraine, since the children is committed by parents or persons replacing beginning of 2015 Interpol has provided information them. about entry into Ukraine of 11 foreign nationals who In Odessa region, stepfather V. raped his twelvewere convicted by law enforcement agencies of year old stepdaughter (information from reference other countries for committing crimes against sexual materials of the Juvenile Prevention Unit of Prevention freedom and sexual inviolability of minors and included Department of the National Police of Ukraine for 2014). into the registry of persons convicted of committing sexual crimes against minors. An analysis of sexual criminal offenses against children carried out by the Juvenile Prevention Unit of the Prevention Department of the National Police found out that such crimes have been mostly committed by people who were intoxicated, as well as those previously convicted or those with certain mental disorders.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Detecting and preventing crimes involving sexual violence against children

Often a child who suffers sexual abuse and sexual exploitation does not reported it to anyone what happens to him/her for months and even years. There are situations when a child complains about the situation to some close people and finds no understanding or support. Adults may not believe the child, perceive his/her words as fantasies. There are situations when violence is perpetrated by a member of the family or the child’s mother knows (suspects) that her husband commits violence against the child but does nothing to protect the child. Children may also not be aware of how to act in such a situation, who to ask for help. Children may be intimidated by the perpetrator and afraid to speak about what happens to them. Police officers indicate that such criminal offenses are difficult to detect and investigate because the children’s relatives are reluctant to notify lawenforcement agencies for the fear of long investigation and litigation procedures. «These cases are really very difficult to detect. Mothers, grandmothers, adult family members settle that at the family level. Parents do not want to make it public, because taking the child to the police is also a challenge, and thus it is not clear what the final result will be» (investigator of the Investigation Department of the MDNP in Odessa region). Investigators note that criminal proceedings tend to be initiated on charges of serious crimes, the effects of which are difficult to hide. Representatives of the Juvenile Prevention Unit say that prevention of sexual violence against children is insufficient. Rarely, there is a response from teachers, who are supposed to notify social services when seeing a child’s strange behavior. Typically, facts of sexual violence are reported to the police by some of close relatives or family members of the child victim when having noticed a situation of sexual violence or after the child informing him/her

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

about the fact of violence. Children themselves rarely report to law enforcement authorities of sexual abuse committed against them. In the course of the survey, there were no cases where the child or one of his/ her relatives reported such facts to child services or the social service center for families and youth. There were some cases where children reported facts of sexual violence against them to teachers at school. After notification of sexual violence against a child, the scene (usually the home of the victim) is visited by an investigative operative group composing an investigator, an employee of the juvenile prevention unit or the criminal police. They record and check the allegation of sexual violence against a child. The investigator enters this fact into the Unified Registry of Pre-Trial Investigations (usually in agreement with the prosecutor), and then the criminal proceedings on the allegation of committing a criminal offense are launched. But there is the risk that the police will not lauch criminal proceedings. This happens in cases where the child’s legal representative, usually the mother, does not confirm the fact of sexual violence against the child. Then the police has seven days to conduct additional checks, after which the final decision is made. All through these seven days, the child is usually abandoned where he/she is. Exceptions are cases of rape, where forensic medical examination is conducted at once. But anyway, if the perpetrator is someone in the family or, for example, a neighbor, the child continued contacting with the perpetrator.

Section 2. The practices of interrogating/questioning child victims of sexual violence The number of questionings/interrogations and types of them At the phase of pre-trial investigation, up to five different questionings may be held with the child. These are questionings by members of the investigative operative group, by the investigator who takes to work the materials for decision-making on recognizing the child a victim, an official interrogation (interrogations) of the child as a victim, questioning of the child by the doctor during forensic medical examination, and questionings by psychologists and psychiatrists in the course of the psychological/psychiatric examination. Then the child testifies at first instance courts and may testify at the court of appeals. So, if the criminal proceedings are launched, the pre-trial investigation and transfer of the materials to court take place, the child gives testimony at least three times, as the following are required to establish circumstances of the crime and claim criminal charges to the perpetrator: interrogation of the victim by the investigator, questioning during psychological/ psychiatric examination (in cases of debauchery) or during forensic medical examination (in cases of rape), and testifying in court. Quite often it turns out that in the course of case investigation the child was also interrogated at the other phases, as indicated, and there were 2 to 5 official interrogations. The case may be passed over for the appeal procedure to the court of appeal. In this case, the child will be questioned and interrogated 5 times or more. This situation is unacceptable, because it leads to unnecessary traumatizing of the child, because every new report on the events means going through them once again.

In cases where the child is both a victim and a witness to other crimes (e.g. sexual exploitation for the purpose of making pornography), he/she may be questioned separately for each episode of sexual violence. In such cases, there were situations where a victim was interrogated 120 times during the year. In these processes, interrogations not only keeps causing the childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s traumatization, but also hinder the recovery process, as the educational process is interrupted, one cannot start social and psychological rehabilitation work with the child. Good international experience in implementing child-friendly interrogation practices shows that the child should not be the sole source of information. Moreover, it is the first description by the child of the events that is the most valuable one, because it contains the most accurate information. Further stories will already be variations of the first story. A child may also add extra details that, in his/her opinion, will help him/her look better in this story. He/ she will reproduce his/her idea of how to talk about the event, based on reactions of the adults who first interviewed him/her. It is important to immediately professionally and to the most of detail question the child about all circumstances of sexual violence committed against him/her, so it is unacceptable to once again question him/her about the events prior to the official interrogation by the investigator.

Figure 1. The list of the instances where a child victim of sexual violence is sunject to questioning and interrogation investigative operative group

first instance courts

court of appeal

questionings by the investigator

psychological/psychiatric examination

court of cassation

Interrogation (interrogations)by the investigator

forensic medical examination

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Pre-trial investigation Pre-investigation check Questioning by the investigative operative police group The first link in the string of the child’s narrations about a situation of sexual violence against him/her may be questioning at pre-investigation check, when the child is visited by an investigative operative police group consisting of the duty investigator, representatives of the juvenile prevention unit, the criminal police. Sometimes such groups may include representatives of child services, teachers, because a child must be interrogated only in the presence of parents or legal representatives, a psychologist, a teacher. Experts disapprove of this practice, because visiting a child at home in a large group of people who take turns to question him/her in the presence of his/her parents about the traumatic event causes his/her shame, which is an unwanted traumatic factor, it may make the child withdraw into him/herself: «This is how it happens more or less. Six people break into the child’s room... At best, they ask parents to go out. But most questionings happen when they are there. All of them race to ask their questions to the child, as all of them need to fill in their «forms» (every department has its own special accounting forms for cases of violence against a child). The child is frightened. At least, he/she will hardly re-apply after this» (Team Leader of the Council of Europe Strengthening and Protecting Children’s Rights in Ukraine Project). We need to work to change this practice, not ask a child about the situation or the situations of sexual violence against him/her before the first interrogation. It would be best if during the check the operative investigative team interviewed the child’s parents or other people who may have witnessed violence against him/her. Interrogation by the investigator during the pre-investigation check A second questioning survey of the child - where he/ she once again has to talk about circumstances of the offense of sexual violence against him/her - is questioning by the investigator who takes materials for proceedings from the duty investigator (the one who went to the scene as part of the investigative operative group) during pre-investigation checks.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

The investigators who conducted such questionings said that their goal was to preliminarily clarify circumstances of the case and develop the work plan for solving the case: «First there was talking to understand what to work on and who to invite, to determine how the child feels» (investigator of Schors Police Department of the MDNP in Chernihiv region). The investigators who have not conducted such questionings consider it vestige of the old Code of Criminal Procedures, which included the procedure. Their arguments against this questioning - where, according to them, a lot of investigators obtain the same information from the child as at the official interrogation - was that that once again traumatizes the child and is a waste of time. Experts say that investigators avoid questionings because one can communicate with the child only in the presence of a psychologist, a teacher, and a legal representative, which is very difficult to ensure. Questioning by Juvenile Prevention Unit of the National Police Cases are known where children were questioned by representatives of the Juvenile Prevention Unit. In this section, there are mostly women, they have experience of working with minors, and it is easier for them to establish contact with the child: «We have the practice of involving the Juvenile Prevention Unit. There are lots of women who previously worked with children at different units, dealt with them within other activities. Having quite a nice appearance, they offer children tea, candies, cookies. This is just a questioning, not an interrogation. This unit does not investigate cases, its representatives are present in court and the they draw their conclusions on the specific situation that happened to the child for further preventive work. A child, for example, says that they played with the uncle and he said it was fine - to lower panties, and so on. «How were you playing?» - «So and so»... Often children with whom you communicate with confidence speak about what happened to them as if it was a game» (juvenile prosecutor of the prosecutor’s office in Kirovohrad).

Official interrogation

The official interrogation of a child victim of sexual abuse is performed almost always. At least, none of the investigators or experts surveyed could mention a case where criminal proceedings had been launched and evidence collected without interrogating the child. There may be several interrogations, and most often there are two of them. Although there may be much more, such as in the cases where there are lots of episodes, such as child pornography shooting, when circumstances of each episode are clarified with a separate interrogation. The procedure for interrogating a child who suffered from sexual violence, in most cases, is no different from all the other interrogations of children, as the law hardly prescribes any special rules or procedures for questioning victims of sexual violence. Only in cases where an employee of the Juvenile Prevention Unit of the Prevention Department of the National Police of Ukraine interrogates the child under a separate commission of the prosecutor in the manner specified in the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine, Order of the Ministry of Interior of Ukraine of 19.12.2012 No. 1176 On Approval of Guidelines to Organize Work of Departments of the Criminal Police for Children is applied, which requires application of the ÂŤGreen RoomÂť method for children aged 4 to 14 years - at the discretion of the investigator or the court - for children aged 14 to 16 who suffered from crimes against their sexual freedom and integrity, other violent crimes, or who witnessed such crimes.

During interviews with investigators of the National Police, the MDNP in Odessa region, it was found that they had conducted one interrogation in cases of sexual violence, and that was enough to prove the accused guilty and forward the materials of the criminal proceedings to court. One interrogation was possible because investigators were well prepared for interviewing the child: they explored enough details of the case to plan the questions that could prove guilt of the suspect. Besides, Odessa investigators managed to set contact with the child, and he/she was open to talk about the incident that had happened to him/her.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Causes of repeated interrogations • Interrogations on participation of the various defendants in the case. For example, a victim of human trafficking had two interrogations: regarding actions of the pimp, and those of the brothel hostess. • Interrogations on different episodes of the case. For example, clarification of different episodes of using a child for production of pornography. • Interrogation to identify other victims of the crime, when the child is both a victim and a witness. For example, in cases where the child was forced to observe sexual violence against other children. • Interrogations to eliminate contradictions and clarify details: «...The investigator looked, included into the protocol all statements of the child, crosschecked that with the protocol of interrogation of the suspect in the case, and something looked unclear to him. To clarify the information, he holds a second interrogation» (lawyer, Head of Legal Aid Department, La Strada Ukraine Center). • Interrogation to clarify information, add new details in cases where the child mentions something that he/she did not say during the first interrogation: «For example, the child did not answer all the questions, forgot something, there was some psychological shock. As time passed, he/she calmed down, the psyche got balanced, and he/she can recall in detail the perpetrator’s clothes so on» (investigator of the Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine in Kharkiv region).

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

• Additional interrogation at the request of the prosecution. • Additional interrogation at the request of the victim because the defendant is trying to manipulate, intimidate or bribe the victim of the crime, so that the victim changed the evidence in favor of the defendant. • Interrogation on how the child perceives actions of the perpetrator and what kind of punishment he/she wants for him/her: «The second interrogation was already of this nature... at the request. They asked the victim if she forgave her brother, if she had any claims against him. The child, sure, said she wanted that they let the brother go, so that he were at home. That was no longer the interrogation like that on sexual violence, the questions were aimed rather at clarifying their relationship and the consequences of what had happened: a month after the act of violence, what she was feeling about that her brother was going to be punished» (investigator of Shchors Police Department of the MDNP in Chernihiv region). • Theoretically, re-interrogation is possible if the first one was performed incorrectly, for example, in the absence of a psychologist, teacher or legal representative, but the respondents said that in their practice there were no such cases.

Persons present at interrogation and their role

According to requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine, interrogation of a child must be conducted in the presence of the investigator, a legal representative, a psychologist or a social worker or teacher. If necessary, a doctor may be present. When interrogating children with special needs (deaf, dumb, blind), professionals who can work with these categories are involved. If the child is an attorney, he/she will also be present during the interrogation. It is also possible that the prosecutor is present. The investigator who conducts interrogation of a child victim of sexual violence is often chosen according to the child’s sex. That is, if the victim is a girl, interrogation is conducted by a woman, if it is a boy - a man interrogates, respectively. However, this requirement is not stipulated in the law, and in practice the sex of the one who interrogates a child may not correspond to the latter’s sex. Although expert opinions on the necessity of the same-sex interrogator differ. A doctor is needed when a child has any disease that may aggravate during interrogation: «In my practice, there was a case where a fit of asthma was triggered for a child during interrogation» (lawyer, Head of the Legal Aid Department, La Strada Ukraine Center). They also invite a doctor for very young children and if there is the suspicion that interrogation may cause the child’s stress. The prosecutor can watch the interrogation. This most often happens when high-profile cases are investigated. The prosecutor may personally conduct interrogation of a child. As respondents mentioned, the prosecutor may conduct interrogation in the case where the investigator has no sufficient practical experience and the prosecutor doubts his/her ability to accurately interrogate. This could also be the request of the suspect’s lawyer claiming violation of procedural rules during interrogation of a child.

The legal representative is one of the child’s parents or guardians. In cases where the child has the status of an orphan or a child deprived of parental care, as well as where parents are suspected of complicity in the crime, the legal representative of the child is a representative of the child service of the local authority. The role of the legal representative is to ensure respect for the child’s rights. Investigators The investigator in most cases conducts interrogation of the child, although according to recommendations developed for interrogating child victims of sexual violence - the «Green Room» technique - the interrogation should be conducted by a psychologist. During the survey it was found that investigators are not specially trained to interrogate child victims of sexual abuse. Some investigators, when answering questions about training for interrogating a child victim of sexual abuse, mentioned coverage within studying at higher educational institutions of special topics related to interrogation of children, without singling the category of victims of sexual violence. Some speak of self-education - searching for information on interrogation of such children on the Internet. Some admit that they have no special training. Moreover, since cases of sexual violence against a child are rarely detected, the investigators not only lack theoretical knowledge, but also have no practical

Figure 2. Persons present at interrogation of a child victim of sexual violence investigator

Psychologist/ teacher

Doctor (if needed)

legal representative

Lawyer (If available) Child

Translator (if needed)

Prosecutor (if needed)

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

experience of such interrogations. The survey found that the investigators who conducted cases of sexual violence had faced one or two such cases in their entire practice. Thus, the complex cases of sexual abuse of children are dealt with by investigators without special theoretical training or practical experience, who in the course of pre-trial investigation have no idea about the challenges one may encounter during the investigation. Far not all of them have an idea of what may traumatize a child: «How to work specifically in cases of sexual violence - there has been no such training. We worked intuitively, as they say» (investigator of Schors Investigation Department of the Main Administration of the National Police in Chernihiv region). Psychologist The role of a psychologist, social worker, or teacher to be present during interrogation of minors theoretically in the Ukrainian practice is to look after that during the interrogation there were no violations of rights of the child, he/she were not psychologically traumatized, as well as to help the investigator establish the necessary contact with him/her. Besides, a psychologist can be the mediator between the investigator and the child, translate the questions into the language of the child: «The first function is to prevent violations of children’s rights during interrogation - some moral, psychological, especially physical pressure. Accordingly, a psychologist as a professional also has the right to assess the situation and questions put to the child, withdraw or ask any additional questions that may be important both for the interrogation and for the criminal proceedings in general. To find out, for example, in more detail some circumstance that the investigator cannot detect. Or to formulate a questions in the right way to obtain certain information» (prosecutor of the Juvenile Justice Unit of the Prosecutor’s Office of Chernihiv). Currently, there are officially regulated requirements for special training for the psychologists to be present during interrogation of a child victim of sexual abuse. A psychologist or a teacher who often substitutes him/her is invited from the local social service center or from the nearest school. As in most cases they have no special training or experience of working with such children, in practice these people are just

present during interrogation, as required by the Code of Criminal Procedure. Presence of person other than the investigator produces a certain positive effect, since it allows an unbiased person observe the interrogation, which according to lawmakers may ensure protection of children’s rights. However, a psychologist without special training or skills cannot help the investigator overcome the difficulties that arise when communicating with the child. Often he/she does not even notice some deviations in the psychological status of the child interrogated. Investigators note that psychologists present at the interrogation generally are not interested in their participation in the procedural act. In some cases, psychologists help prepare a child for interrogation. Then the role of a psychologist is to establish a psychological contact with the child and contribute into his/her psychological readiness and openness to talk and to answer the investigator’s questions: «Since I do not have any psychological or pedagogical education, before interrogation we offered psychologists an opportunity to communicate with the child to understand whether they can motivate him/her talk it or not» (investigator of the Investigation Department of the MDNP in Odessa region). However, Ukraine has specially trained professionals (psychiatrists) to conduct psychological and psychiatric examination, which aims at finding out if the child is telling the truth and assessing the degree of his/her psychological trauma. But no cooperation is established between medical institutions and the police to set up multidisciplinary teams, which would be able to simultaneously conduct interrogations and the corresponding questioning. In this connection, a child who suffered crime must separately take part in the interrogation involving a psychologist who has no appropriate training and go to a medical facility to undergo the psychological and psychiatric examination. In most countries that have already implemented friendly practices of interrogating children, for example in France1, this process is merged in the same questioning. Having arrived in special premises, the child can speak to different specialists and therefore not travel for several days to visit each of them individually to testify in the case. However, such an examination may be held not only by a psychiatrist, but also by a specially trained psychologist.

1 Quand la famille marche sur la tête. Inceste, pédophilie, maltraitance / Martine Nisse, Pierre Sabourin. - M., 2013. - 392 p.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Interrogation premises

The survey found that most often the place of interrogation is the investigator’s office. Before the interrogation starts, all the persons who should be present at it stay in the office with the child. Often, the investigator has no separate office, and during the interrogation other investigators may enter the room and interrupt the process.

In some cases, the places of interrogation may be the following: • t he home where the affected child lives; • t he psychologist’s office or any other office in the school; • a separate room in the kindergarten; • hospital. In very rare cases, the interrogations are held in a specially designated room, the so-called «green room».

Recording testimony of the child during interrogation

The child’s testimonies are in most cases recorded in the protocol. In some cases - the share of which in the total number of interrogations of children who suffered sexual violence it is difficult to measure - they video record the interrogations. According to investigators, video recording of interrogations of child victims of sexual violence is performed: • t o safeguard against possible changes in the interrogated child’s testimony; • a s an aid for holding psychological/psychiatric examination of the child; • with the aim of recording actions of participants of an investigation experiment. According to investigators, they do not mind video recording of the interrogations. They are even interested in that, since the protocol is not an indisputable proof of statements of the person interrogated, and in the case of a change

in testimony in the trial court is on the side of the victim or witness: «It often happens that they come and I ask if everything really was as stated in the protocol. They: «No, it was not so.» - «The protocol was written by hand. This is your signature.» And here it begins: «I did not fully understand, I did not read it, that’s not what I said...» In such cases, as a rule, the court concludes that, indeed, what is written in the protocol is incorrect, the investigator blundered. While if there is a video, whatever the witness insists on, what is said and recorded on video - it was said» (representative of the Main Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine).

Figure 3. The estimated scale of application of child interrogation recording methods Video

Protocol

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

It is much easier to conduct psychological/ psychiatric examination if there is a video of the interrogation: «The psychologists who conduct psychological/psychiatric examination may watch the recording and see how the child behaved at the interrogation, what he/she said, with what emotions, analyze facial expression of the child, etc.» (senior investigator of the Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine in Odessa region). The reasons how respondents explained why interrogations are not video recorded: • lack of cameras in police departments; • apprehension of that the child will be self-reserved in front of a camera;

• the need to spend additional time for further decoding of the video: «Recording is an additional burden on the investigator. Then you still need to decipher the video» (lawyer, Head of the Legal Aid Department, La Strada Ukraine Center). • unawareness of the fact that interrogation can be video recorded: «Honestly, when we conduct trainings for investigators, 50% of them are surprised when finding out that it is possible to video record the interrogation, they ask where it is stipulated» (lawyer, Head of the Legal Aid Department, La Strada Ukraine Center).

Using video recording of an interrogation of a child at the pre-trial and trial phases

At the pre-trial phase, recording of an interrogation of a child victim of sexual violence is the investigator’s evidence. It may be the basis for the appropriate procedural decision-making, such as closure of criminal proceedings or accusation of the suspect and forwarding the case to court.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

When considering criminal proceeding materials in court, video recording of an interrogation of a child is attached as evidence to materials of the pre-trial investigation, and the judge may at his/her discretion view the video and use it as evidence, or not view it. This is currently not regulated.

Cross-examination (face-to-face confrontation) According to the Code of Criminal Procedure adopted in 2012, there is no such term as «faceto-face confrontation». The new name for such action is «cross-examination (interrogation of two or more persons).» However, according to Art. 224 «In criminal proceedings involving crimes against sexual freedom and sexual inviolability of a person, as well as crimes involving violence or threat of violence two or more persons that have already been interviewed where a minor or underage witness is involved may not be interviewed concurrently with the suspect to find out why their testimonies are divergent.» The need for confrontation or cross-examination arises when there are contradictions between testimonies of the accused person and the victim. However, according to respondent investigators, in the case of cross-examination of a child victim of sexual abuse the result may be the opposite of what was expected: the child gets another psychological trauma and becomes reserved. Therefore investigators consider this an inappropriate procedural action and during the proceedings they have conducted they did not hold cross-examinations, proving the guilt of the suspect

otherwise: «I do not see any sense in conducting cross-examination, once again traumatizing the child, especially if he/she has some negative reaction to this person. Why do that if one can do without it, find another way to prove the guilt? Why once again traumatize the child?» (senior investigator of the Investigation Department of MDNP in Odessa region). However, prior to adoption of the new Code of Criminal Procedure there were cases where cross-examination was still held in violation of all ethical norms (another meeting of the victim and the perpetrator) and further traumatizing the child. According to the lawyer who defended a group of child victims of sexual abuse, they found out that girls aged 12 and 8 had been taken to confrontation, and that had been done at night. During this confrontation the accused person was beaten, which resulted in a hysteria of one of the victims. The purpose of those actions was to confirm that the accused knew the victim. As explained by the lawyer, it was necessary to provide the judge with more documents for deciding on the preventive measure in the form of keeping in custody.

Forensic examination

Virtually in all cases of sexual violence against a child, forensic medical examination is held. This procedure usually causes additional traumatization of the child. While in cases of rape and sexual intercourse with a minor holding of forensic medical examination can be justified by the need to find evidence for initiating proceedings, in cases where there was no sexual intercourse with penetration this procedure is not justified. Forensic medical examination must necessarily answer the following questions by the investigator: whether the victim is sexually mature; whether there was a sexual contact between the victim and the perpetrator; whether there are traces of sexual intercourse or no. The examination may also reveal traces of various types of sexual intercourse, how long ago sexual intercourse took place, the number of contacts (a single sexual intercourse or several). Moreover, the examination can establish presence of traces of physical violence, such as bruises, which will confirm that the victim was coerced, and so on.

In the case of child debauchery, forensic medical examination may be held to detect certain disorders (diseases), bodily injuries resulting from the debaucher’s actions. Traumas revealed condition article qualification of accusation: «We need to determine whether the child received any bodily injuries, which interfered, for example, with his/her development, including loss of fertility, and so on. For us, investigators, that conditions qualification of the case» (investigator criminologist of the Investigation Department of MDNP in Odessa region). Only in rare cases of debauchery investigators did not request forensic medical examination realizing

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

that would be unnecessary traumatization of the child: «Say, if I know for sure that there was no sexual intercourse with the child, why once again traumatize him/her, take to a gynecologist, to doctors for them to examine the child?» (senior investigator of the Investigation Department of MDNP in Odessa region). According to experts, it is necessary to develop some formal article qualification severity criteria that would allow avoiding forensic medical examination in this case. For example, the victim’s age. The procedure of forensic medical examination is as follows: the investigator - sometimes the prosecutor issues the referral form, and the child, accompanied by parents, goes to a forensic medical facility for examination. Departments of forensic medical examination are located in regional centers, there are branches at the local level. It is almost impossible to avoid forensic medical examination by examining the child in a health care facility at the place of residence, as in cases of sexual crimes that is not allowed. The expert may take into account findings by other health facilities, but for the final conclusion an examination at the specialized institution is still required. Moreover, only the forensic expert may testify at the court hearing, while the physician can be heard as a professional. For the examination, the investigator provides materials of the criminal proceedings to the expert, i.e. the protocol of interrogation of the child victim. However, the expert may additionally ask the child about how he/she got a certain injury, and, as a rule, the child once again has to speak about what happened to him/ her during the sexual assault. Therefore, conditionally this can referred to as another questioning of the child during criminal proceedings. During interviews with forensic experts, it was not found out whether it is possible not to ask additional questions to the child during the examination, but be present at interrogation of the child conducted by

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

the investigator. According to the head of the Central Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination at the MoH of Ukraine, this option is possible provided the forensic expert go along with the police for interrogation and has the opportunity to ask all necessary questions via the intermediary, not to traumatize the child with another questioning. Now it can be done if the investigator passes the respective resolution to involve a forensic expert into investigation activities. But there is a difficulty. The child may hush down some details during interrogation, and something may be found out directly in the course of the forensic medical examination: traces of violence showing that the child was beaten; traces of sexual intercourse, which the child did not mention at the interrogation. In this case it will be necessary to find out from the child where those injuries come from, respectively, to once again ask questions about what happened to him/her. However, in other countries there is the possibility for a multidisciplinary team to work in the same special room, including a physician. He/she has the opportunity to look through the videotape of the child’s interrogation or be present in a separate room to observe the interrogation. He/she then has the opportunity to examine the child and to register injuries on his/her body. For example, in France and in the US there are special rooms for questioning children at hospitals. In such premises, they see children who suffered not only sexual, but also physical violence. In Sweden, there are separate premises for questioning child victims of sexual violence, where there is a room for medical examination, and a multidisciplinary team, which includes a physician, arrives on demand. In Belarus, there are special facilities at forensic examination centers. And the task of forensic experts is not only to conduct medical examination, but also to teach investigators methods of questioning children, so that during interrogation they did not exert psychological pressure on them.

Psychological and psychiatric examination

Psychological and psychiatric examination is important in cases where medical examination offers no evidence of sexual contact with a child, and charges are based on the child’s testimony. The conclusion of psychological/psychiatric examination then makes it possible to use the child’s testimony as evidence in the case. Psychological/psychiatric examination should answer the question whether the child is able to tell the truth about the sexual violence that was applied to him/ her; help to figure out the child’s ability to tell the truth about events qualified as crimes against sexual integrity; to determine whether he/she is able to realize a fact of violence, to distinguish between real events and fantasies, if he/she is prone to fantasy in general. Such examination should answer the question of what the psychological condition of the child was during commission of the crime, and what it is at the time of the examination. It is also supposed to determine if the child provided evidence under pressure or voluntarily. Experts analyze whether any pressure on the child was exerted, which could affect or change his/her testimony. Moreover, psychological/psychiatric examination may determine consequences of the perpetrator’s actions for the child’s psyche, which influences article qualification of severity of the crime. The procedure of psychological/psychiatric examination includes another questioning of the child on sexual abuse that happened to him/her. As well as within forensic medical examination, the investigator asks his/her questions to the expert and provides the interrogation protocol or video for analysis. This examination is conducted at special institutions, usually based at psychiatric hospitals. A board of psychologists and psychiatrists draw their findings answering questions posed by the investigation. A lawyer of girls who were victims in a case of debauchery mentioned examples of questions to be answered by psychological/psychiatric examination: • Is the victim able in view of her intellectual and individual development realize the nature of actions committed against her? • Was the victim able to understand the nature of actions committed against her, given aspects of her psychic status? • Could the victim resist in the circumstances? • Does the victim have individual psychological characteristics unrelated to a mental disorder that could influence her behavior in that situation?

A psychologist who works with traumas of child victims of sexual abuse said that the process of psychological/psychiatric examination is traumatic for them, as the board of experts are not trained to question affected children using special techniques that make this questioning less traumatic. Moreover, the very environment in a psychiatric hospital traumatizes children: «Child psychiatric examination is performed in Pavlov Hospital (psychiatric hospital in Kyiv). Imagine: the child finds him/herself in Pavlov Hospital. The atmosphere there is heavy. In the office, there are several people. «Well, come on, tell us,» this is how the conversation starts. I have listened to these questionings - mothers recorded them on voicerecorders. That just an outrage, pardon the expression. Because when a child is in such a situation, when they put pressure, stare at him/her... He/she is already traumatized, and they still try to press. In this situation, the child often feels at a loss and stays in such a confused state». For the benefit of the child, experts should also hold their examination based on the interrogation conducted using special techniques in a special room equipped with audio and video recording equipment, not question the child once again. Experts must be present during the child’s interrogation by the investigator and be able to ask additional questions to the child, possibly via the investigator remotely (via a headset), watching his/her reaction while behind special glass or on the monitor.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Case proceedings in court The interrogation procedure in court

Almost always children have to re-testify in court about cases of sexual violence committed to them. It is very difficult to avoid questioning in court due to peculiarities of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. This procedure is very traumatic for children. In court, most of them suffer stress associated with that they will have to testify and talk about unpleasant experiences in the presence of a large number of people: the prosecutor, judge or judges, representatives of the accused, the legal representative. Moreover, in most cases, the suspect is also present in court. This situation is stressful for a child, he/she often cannot repeat in court what he/she said when interrogated within pre-trial investigation. According to requirements of the Code of Criminal Procedure, at the time of submission of criminal proceeding materials to court, the judge only has the indictment and the registry of pre-trial investigation materials. The process is structured so that the sentence must be based on testimony received in the courtroom. Thus, in line with the general rule, both witnesses and the victim are interrogated in court. The court makes no judgment and does not scrutinize the parties’ testimony provided during pretrial investigation. Only if between the testimony given in court and that given during pre-trial investigation there are contradictions, the prosecutor provides pretrial investigation material for the court to study. In this case, the testimony is questioned, but there is more confidence in those testimonies that were given in court. That is why almost all children have to testify in court. The child interrogation procedure is as follows: first, the prosecutor asks questions, then one by one the victim’s representative, the victim’s defender, the defender of the accused, sometimes the accused is entitled to ask questions. The last one who asks questions to the child is the judge. The court may revoke questions, for example, if they are suggestive or undermine interests of the child.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Communication between the child and the judge or the other actors who put question to him/her often takes place directly. Judges say it causes some difficulties for them, because without training it is hard to communicate with this category of children. For example, a child due to his/her young age or education may not identify actions committed against him/her with generally accepted terms, but use figurative concepts that are not always clear: «She says that the guy cleaned soot. What should I do about it? How should I know?» (appellate court judge from Chernihiv). The judge may also not know how to formulate questions to obtain answers that would allow revealing all the details to confirm or refute the charges, while not committing any acts that traumatize the child: «There were problems because while interacting with children we received the information that they had already set out in the course of pre-trial investigation, with specific details, specific circumstances. And the child could confirm or not confirm some of the circumstances. On the other hand, one would have to see that he/she does not commit any actions related to disclosure or commission of some verbal debauchery» (head of a district court in Kyiv). Sometimes judges use mediation of a psychologist to communicate with a child in court: «For example, the girl answers and I do not understand the answer. I look at the psychologist and he formulates the question so that it is clear for the child» (judge of the appellate court of Chernihiv). There may be several court hearings, but generally a child gives evidence at just one of them. The court discusses whether it is reasonable for the child to be present at other sessions and usually decides that the trial will continue without his/her presence. Often this happens at the request of the child’s representative.

The meeting of a child victim of sexual violence (the victim) and the perpetrator (the defendant)

According to international standards, special conditions need to be created for a child victim of sexual violence: he/she must testify in a separate room, one should ensure that there is no contacting between the child and the person accused of committing a crime against him/her. It is better not to question a child in the courtroom at all but use the video recording of the interrogation held during pre-trial investigation or remote questioning from a room specially equipped in court using video communication. ВIn our country, in practice the child often testifies in court in the presence of the defendant and other parties in the process. This may result in his/her traumatization. Thus, in Chernihiv appelate court there was a case where a six-year old child had to testify in court, and the person accused of committing the crime was also there. As a result, the child suffered a serious psychological trauma. This situation is advantageous only for the one guilty of sexual abuse. After all, calling the child to court is usually requested by the suspects - in order to be able to manipulate him/her, make him/her in this way change his/her testimony. One of psychologists we interviewed stated: «Usually all aggressors request confrontation and the child in court. The child is afraid, the child can be intimidated, manipulated, and thus compelled to change the testimony.» Options to avoid encounters of the person accused of sexual violence and his/her victim To prevent traumatization of the child as a result of meeting the person accused of violence against him/ her, someone must file a motion that the defendant is not present when the child gives testimony. This motion may be filed by the child’s representative, the child’s legal representative (attorney, if any). Such a decision may also be made upon the request of the prosecutor or on the court’s initiative. During the study, two cases were recorded where the request was filed by the psychologist who questioned the child, explaining that in case of interrogation the child may get a psychological trauma, and no interrogation in court was held. In such cases, the accused person is taken away from the courtroom, and the child testifies in his/her absence. Another possible option for interrogation of a child is when all parties in the proceedings are taken away, and only the child and the judge remain in the courtroom.

Remote interrogation of a child is possible. Such a case was mentioned by a psychologist who conducts questioning in the special room, the «Green Room»: «I was pleased that in Shevchenkivsky district court the last time, not to traumatize the child, they organized a video conference with the perpetrator.» Such remote interrogation was held based on the psychologist’s opinion that the victim’s meeting with the defendant would seriously hurt the child. This was a case where the father raped his daughter for a long time. The court organized it so that the father - the defendant - during the interrogation was in a pre-detention facility, while his daughter - the victim - in the courtroom. Prosecutors and judges indicate that most courts have the opportunity to question a child remotely, when he/ she and a psychologist are in a room, while the court hearing is held in another room: «Technically that is possible. For example, in two of our rooms there are the so-called video conferencing installations. This means that we can hold the hearing, for example, in the second room on the ground floor» (the President of one of district courts of Kyiv). The problem is that Ukraine lacks trained prosecutors and judges who would understand that it is necessary - to in one way or another avoid an encounter between the defendant and the victim. The child also does not have anyone to accompany him/her and insist on an interrogation during which the child would not meet the accused person. The best option to ensure interests of the child during trial procedures is legislative consolidation of the procedure of court hearing of cases of sexual abuse of children. According to the President of the Court of Appeal of Ivano-Frankivsk, it would be easier to hold court hearings for victims of sexual abuse of minors in line with the international standards if it were spelled out in the legislative framework - the

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine: «We would like it that, for example, you as a representative of an NGO (since you exactly deal with what applies to criminal proceedings and crimes against minors), probably, researched this issue, initiated amendments in the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Code of Civil Procedure. It would be good if it were directly written in the CCP. We would even help you formulate it how we see interrogation of victims in such circumstances. And if it were spelled out in the Procedural Code, there would be no those obstacles, any mechanical, timerelated ones. Everything would be clear at once both

to the investigator who initiates pre-trial investigation, and to the investigating judge, who, for example, can interrogate the child within pre-trial investigation in this room, and to court for their consideration. It would be guided by the procedural law, and it would be more logical and would cause no objection of the accused ones, of the defense, it would not give grounds for accusations of violating the client’s rights. Sort of, he also has the right to defense, and he wants to see the child, and we don’t know who is working on the victim. If it were stipulated in the Code of Procedure, it would be very good.»

Options to avoid interrogation in court

It is possible to avoid interrogation in court of a child victim of sexual abuse, if there is the motion from one of the three parties: representatives of the child (e.g., a parent or guardian), the child’s defender or the prosecutor submit the motion on that the child suffers a psychological trauma and it is not desirable to question him/her in court. In this case the video recording of the child’s interrogation during the pre-trial investigation is considered. In court, instead of interrogation a child they may heard the interrogation protocol. Thus, during interviews with judges of the Court of Appeal of Chernihiv they mentioned a case where a child victim of sexual abuse was not interrogated by the first instance, but they used the interrogation protocol, as the psychologist filed the motion on that the interrogation could be traumatic for the child. Another possibility to avoid questioning of a child in court, which is applied only in exceptional cases, is hearing the testimony is hearsay. Then the court may question the persons who were present during the child’s interrogation: the psychologist, the legal representative of the child, the teacher. Thus, according to a judge, the more people are present during the interrogation and confirm the child’s statements - the better. However, they do not take into account evidence of law enforcement officers who were present during the interrogation: the investigator, the prosecutor. If the witnesses’ testimonies are the same, plus supported by the video recording, the court may admit them: «And then they note in the decision or ruling something like this: «...based on the filed motion on impossibility of interrogating the victim in court hearing, the court found that indeed, based on interests of the child, based on this or that situation, interrogation of the child would be inappropriate in view of his/her health and psychological status.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

However, the court considers that the fact that the crime was committed is confirmed with the child’s testimony, as the psychologist [name] questioned in the court hearing stated that he was present there and there and that the child described these and these circumstances, and it confirms that violence was used against him/her. The teacher [name] questioned in the court hearing stated that he was present during the child’s interrogation in the «green room» and the child said that [name] committed such and such actions against him/her. The questioned legal representative stated this and that. Moreover, in the court hearing the court watched the video recording as a document, as material, and believes that this video is authentic, not forged, and it correctly reflects the victim’s testimony, which he/she offered at the time.» Another question is if it is possible to only accept the video without questioning the child. That is a problem. But a child’s interrogation in court can be compensated with interrogation of four persons who confirm the child’s testimony and provide a video recording of what he/ she» (President of Podilsky district court in Kyiv). The victim can also avoid interrogation in court in the case where the accused pleads guilty. In this case, the court only calls the defendant to court and not interrogate other parties to the proceedings. Interrogation of the victim and witnesses is only held when the defendant denies his/her guilt, and then the purpose of interrogating the other parties is eliminating discrepancies among their testimonies.

Obstacles to using video recording of the child’s interrogation in court as evidence During the survey, judges pointed out the following obstacles that prevent them from using video recording of the child’s interrogation during pre-trial investigation as evidence: • poor quality of pre-trial investigation materials (materials submitted do not make it possible to unambiguously say whether the defendant is guilty or not); • provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure stipulate that all evidence must be studied in court (the majority of experts surveyed indicated that video recording of the child’s interrogation cannot be used in court, but it may be used only as evidence at the phase of pre-trial investigation);

• lack of technical capacity to watch the video recording of the child’s interrogation in some courts (thus, a judge of Holosievsky District Court in Kyiv pointed out that his computer is a decade-old, it has no CD-drive or USD port).

Terms of using video recording of the child’s interrogation in court as evidence in a case of sexual violence against him/her During the survey, judges mentioned the following terms for using video recording of the child’s interrogation as evidence: • correct procedural registration of video recording of the interrogation - it must be specified in the protocol that the interrogation is being video recorded (it is the investigator who needs to make sure that everything is organized properly and in compliance with the law, having informed all stakeholders in the process about the fact of video recording of the interrogation, and having completed the interrogation all participants of the interrogation must confirm in writing that the data that have been video recorded are true);

• adequate quality of the video; • sealing video carriers with the original recording of the interrogation (the disc or another video carrier must be packed in an envelope and sealed in presence of witnesses, who will confirm that the original recording was not interfered with, that nothing was done to this video).

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Interrogation involving the investigating judge during the pre-trial investigation

In accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine, it is possible to avoid calling a child to court - which could traumatize him/her - if during the pre-trial investigation a court hearing involving the investigating judge is organized. To organize such interrogation, it is necessary that the pre-trial investigation body submits a motion to the investigating judge indicating sufficient grounds for sparing the victim from direct participation in the trial. This type of interrogation is recorded on a video carrier and is evidence in court, which must be taken into account. During the survey, investigators from Kharkiv and Odessa said that that had taken advantage of this opportunity. In Kharkiv, this option was used successfully. Since the affected girls gave the necessary testimonies and the accused person was taken into custody, court hearings on the case are being held: «The girls were not summoned to court because they were questioned at the hearing during the pre-trial investigation. There is such a form of questioning, where the judge sits, listens while they are being interrogated, to avoid traumatizing them in court. We took them there, everybody was asked to leave» (representative of the Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine in Kharkiv region). In Odessa, the hearing involving the investigating judge was less fortunate, as a child got scared with the atmosphere of the court hearing, a large crowd of people of the both sexes, and became reserved:

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

«We were faced with the situation where in order not to interrogate the child in court, not to traumatize her psyche, not to traumatize the mother, we - with the permission of the prosecutor - initiated the interrogation in court under Article 225 of the CCP of Ukraine. And she seemed to have said everything on the video, we recorded everything, nothing was added, everything was recorded just as the child said that. But when the judge started asking questions to her (while there were the suspect’s attorney, the legal representative, the judge present), the child got confused, broke into tears, and no longer answered any questions. Later it is rather difficult to prove such cases in court, because a child may give not the same testimony as during the pre-trial investigation» (investigator of the Investigation Department of the MDNP in Odessa region). To avoid such situations, in most countries they use friendly interrogation practices, only one specialist talks to the child (police officer, prosecutor, psychologist, forensic expert, judge, etc.), while the other specialists are in another room watching the interrogation. They can pass over one or two questions through special headphones to the person interrogating the child, as well as discuss the relevant questions during the break.

Involvement of various agencies and services into investigation of sexual abuse of a child Functions of the prosecutor’s office The prosecutor’s office oversees compliance with laws during pre-trial investigation in the form of pretrial procedural guidance. Prosecutor’s oversight includes, among other things, ordering the relevant investigation (search) operations. The investigator is obliged to execute orders and instructions of the prosecutor issued in writing. The investigator must coordinate with the prosecutor motions for application of criminal proceedings measures or preventive measures. The prosecutor directs the process and further checks the quality of the collected evidence material, supports public prosecution in court on the basis of evidence collected within the criminal proceedings. To verify the quality of the collected evidence material, the prosecutor looks through materials of the criminal proceedings, watches and listens through all video and audio recordings. This is required for being confident that there is enough evidence to announce suspicion: «We read all materials of criminal proceedings, no matter how many volumes there are, how much audio/video. All of that before making a procedural decision. For example, before announcing suspicion to an individual, the prosecutor has to examine materials of the criminal proceedings to be personally, internally sure that there is enough evidence to present suspicion. So, he studied the entire scope of evidence collected during the pretrial investigation» (representative of the prosecutor’s office). The role of social work professionals and employees of centers of social services for families, children, and youth Social workers and staff of SPCFCYs, at the request of the investigator during the pre-trial investigation may be involved for social inspections of the family of a child victim of sexual violence. In practice, investigators often ask the victim’s family, among other things, whether they are registered with the social services. Representatives of social services mentioned that, in addition to the above, they accept notifications of family violence and react to them by reporting the incidents to the police. The police, when making a decision on registration of the fact and initiating an inspection, in turn, report to the child service and social services any sexual crimes committed to a child.

There was a case where a social worker from the city of Ivano-Frankivsk found out about suspicion of sexual abuse of a child. The social worker supported the girl in attending a gynecologist for an examination. However, the employee did not inform the relevant authorities, since the family was reluctant to contact law enforcement agencies. The role of the authorized unit of the National Police Employees of juvenile prevention units, upon the investigator’s request, may conduct questioning of the child, parents, witnesses, and perform activities aimed at disclosing the circumstances and causes of a criminal offense against a child involving sexual violence. Moreover, other investigative actions may be delegated to them, such as search and summoning of a witness needed, retrieving characteristics at the place of study or residence of a child victim of sexual abuse, participation in the social inspection of his/ her family. Employees of the authorized unit prepare letters to child services, the center of social services for families, children, and youth. They are always part of the investigation operative group when it comes to the scene upon a notification about a crime committed against a child, including involving sexual violence. The role of the child service The child service keeps records of child victims of various types of violence, including sexual. Besides, the service considers appeals regarding situations where a child suffered sexual abuse, when someone turns to it about this issue. Such an appeal may be submitted by anyone: a school teacher, neighbors, etc. After receiving the respective appeal, the service turns to the police. The child service is also involved in inspections of the victims’ families in case of detecting cases of sexual violence. Representatives of the child service, if necessary, should represent children’s interests in court. At the phase of pre-trial investigation, they can be involved in interrogation of the child as his/her legal representatives, if the child has the status of an orphan or a child deprived of parental care. It is also possible in case suspicion of committing sexual abuse against the child was announced to his/ her parents. Moreover, representatives of the child service may appeal in cases of violation of rights and legitimate interests of children and for assistance to

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

the relevant executive authorities, local governments, institutions, and organizations regardless of their ownership. However, representatives of the service are not always aware of such things as the option to insist on interrogation in special premises («the green room»), insist on video recording of the interogation, the necessity of filing a notion for a child to testify in court in a separate room without participation of the defendant. Coordination of work of specialists involved into interrogation By law, the coordinating body in cases of violence against children should be the child service, but in practice actions of specialists involved into the child’s interrogation are not coordinated. It is evident in that the formal requirements for certain services are complied with, they report on that, but no local interagency teams have been created that would ensure clear, coordinated work for the child’s benefit in case of detecting a case of sexual abuse. Nor functions of such team members clearly defined. The child service, which is supposed to coordinate actions of all stakeholders in the process, frequently receives notifications of a case of sexual abuse of a child after the first interrogation by the investigator of the National Police. There is no database of trained psychologists, who could help in conducting the questioning. In practice, they invite a psychologist from an SPCFCYs or from a school, who has neither appropriate training, nor particular desire to be present during the interrogation. The law does not require mandatory participation of a forensic expert during a child’s interrogation. In the event there is no specially equipped room for interrogating a child, in particular a «green room», it is also technically impossible to organize presence during the interrogation of representatives of forensic and psychological/psychiatric examinations. If this were done, the child would not have to repeatedly answer the same questions - during interrogation, and during the examinations.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Moreover, NGO representatives say that police officers, representatives of child services and social services are often unfamiliar with each other or have grudges against each other. Experts believe that it is necessary to conduct joint trainings, activities to facilitate communication and cooperation among them. Experience of setting up such inter-agency, multidisciplinary teams within implementation of various social projects is available. Child backing Currently, a child has no official backing that would be provided by public services, such as the child service or social service. Child victims of sexual violence are not provided with free legal aid, as public attorneys are only available for those accused of committing crimes. NGO La Strada is engaged in support of children affected by sexual violence, providing attorneys for such children. Some cases of sexual abuse of children are under personal control by the Commissioner of the Ukrainian Parliament for Human Rights. Since a child has no backing, often things necessary to ensure respect for his/her rights and interests are not done: they do not file motions to video record the interrogation, to hold the interrogation in the «green room»; they do not submit objections to crossexamination (confrontation); no interrogation in court comfortable for the child is ensured.

Conclusions: drawbacks of the current practices of interrogation of child victims of sexual violence Crimes against sexual freedom and integrity of a child are very difficult to document, so in the international practice special methods and techniques for questioning child victims have been developed, which make it possible to gather the most reliable and detailed information that will give reason to bring the offender to justice. It should be borne in mind, though, that sexual violence is already a great trauma for a child, and each subsequent reference to the situation results in further traumatization. It is important to collect evidence so as to minimize the child’s traumatization. In our country, these international practices almost do not apply. Interrogation of a child victim of sexual violence is held in the same was as other child interrogations, which often leads to negative consequences. The child gets traumatized, and the information needed to prove the defender’s guilt is not collected. Experts highlight the following drawbacks of the current practices of interrogation of child victims of sexual violence: • A child is questioned about the case of sexual abuse that he/she was subjected to before he/ she will is interrogated by the investigator. This is unacceptable, because the child can only present the most reliable information about the crime during the first conversation. Further, he/she adjusts his/ her story according to how they reacted to it. Thus, unnecessary questioning about circumstances of the event lead to loss of useful information. • Interrogations are carried out in unsuitable premises, where there is no atmosphere favorable for developing the desired contact, the child’s overcoming his/ her fears and avoiding unnecessary traumatization. A child needs soothing colors, quiet, comfortable furniture. In a standard office in premises of the police, no child friendly environment is created. In investigators’ offices, there may be several people simultaneously, interrogation may be interrupted when some of investigators enters, goes to his/her workplace. This is not comfortable for the child, it creates tension when narrating about the dramatic situation. The school where the child studies - or the kindergarten - is not the best place either, as in a familiar place the child may feel embarrassed. At home the atmosphere may remind of events of the crime, and the child will not feel safe. Hospital wards are largely dominated by the tense atmosphere of a regime institution, which does not contribute into creating comfort either.

• Presence of a parent or another legal representative has a negative impact on the child’s openness, that often makes him/her feel shame. Often the child may answer in ways that seem to please his/her mother or father (another legal representative) more: «If a child sees the legal representative... I have not yet seen any child who would not turn his/her head after each question of the investigator to look at mom or another legal representative, how she (he) reacts: nods and says: «You’re good» - or does not nod and say that. The child gets very distracted, he/she may not say when the mother is there of those things would he/she would have said in her absence. And if the mother hears something new, unpleasant, and says: «Ah-ah-ah...» - the interrogation can, actually, be ended, because the child, having received a negative reaction from the mother, just stops answering the questions» (lawyer, Head of Legal Aid Department, La Strada Ukraine Center). There are cases when parents who have conservative views shame the child not allowing him/her share details necessary for the investigation: «During an interrogation, the mother kept saying to the child that she shut up, as it was shameful to speak about that» (prosecutor of the Juvenile Justice Unit of the Prosecutor’s Office of Kirovohrad). Use of technical equipment: a room with the glass for off-sight observation or cameras for computer equipment of video surveillance of the adjacent room allows for participation of legal representatives while protecting interests of the child, and at the same time reducing the impact of legal representatives on the child’s answers. • Invitation for interrogation of a psychologist or teacher from the educational institution where the child studies results in his/her unnecessary traumatization. Under these conditions, the child will not talk about the details that he/she would share with an absolute stranger.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

• The interrogation protocol recorded on paper does not retain much of the important information, and the child has to be interrogated again. This eliminates the chance to avoid re-interrogation during the trial. • The investigator who conducts the interrogation with no special training may lead to the following consequences: • misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the child’s actions, such as keeping silent about the crime, justifying the perpetrator, going back to the perpetrator, which is typical in such situations. The investigator who does not have special psychological training may perceive these actions as evidence of the child’s untruthfulness. • difficulties in establishing contact with a child (he/ she can reserved and not share important details of the crime). Besides, psychologists recommend considering the child’s age characteristics when choosing the time for questioning. At the same time, ignoring features of the child’s speech, who often calls genitals or the process of sexual intercourse using his/her own metaphors, may lead to inaccuracies in the interrogation protocol and, consequently, re-interrogation at the court hearing. If the investigator forgets to ask the child about how he/she names body parts and does not clarify the meaning or a certain metaphor, the interrogation has no probative value: «We need to find out from the child how he/she calls body parts. There was, for example, a girl who called her genitals «a flower», and if the psychologist did not establish that during a preliminary conversation and record that on the camera («Please note that the child names genitals «a flower»), I do not know what would happen. Because during the entire interrogation, when asked what the perpetrator touched, the child kept replying: «The flower.» And if the psychologist did not register that, the interrogation would give absolutely no evidence» (lawyer, Head of Legal Aid Department, La Strada Ukraine Center).

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

• Experts doubt ability of the investigators who in addition to «child» cases investigate other crimes to conduct interrogation so as not to traumatize the child: «Why do we need a juvenile justice system in Ukraine? It is very, very needed. Because an investigator who works with adult people, after he/ she has just interviewed a person who committed a murder, it is very, very hard... This is a purely human factor. After that, it is far not easy to switch and question the child victim of sexual abuse. Even unwittingly, the investigator may inflict a severe psychological trauma on a child with the interrogation... While those present at the interrogation have the right to ask questions, if necessary, but not interfere into the process of interrogation, if it is conducted by the investigator. So I always tell to all investigators that a child must be interrogated by a psychologist» (lawyer, Head of Legal Aid Department, La Strada Ukraine Center). • A child is once again traumatized when questioned within forensic psychological and medical examinations. • A child is traumatized as a result of contacting the perpetrator during the pre-trial investigation or in court, as well as during interrogation at the court hearing. • The child often gets lost in court and does not share the information that he/she reported during the pre-trial investigation, which prevents or hinders punishment of the perpetrator. These bottlenecks of interrogating a child who suffered sexual violence are due to objective reasons: • there is no standardized special procedure of a child’s interrogation in court and during pretrial investigation, which would take into account international best practices; • no child backing is offered that would ensure respect for his/her interests; • there are not enough trained psychologists, who on the investigator’s request could conduct interrogation of child victims of sexual violence; • there is no clear algorithm of actions of agencies and services involved into interrogation of a child victim of sexual abuse.

Section 3. Factors contributing to implementation of friendly interrogation of child victims of sexual violence Pilot projects to establish specially equipped premises for interrogating/questioning of child victims of sexual violence or human trafficking The «Green Room» method

At the stage of pre-trial investigation, the Ministry of Interior of Ukraine recommended criminal police units dealing with children to conduct child interrogation upon a special request of the investigator, the prosecutor in the manner specified in the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine. Such interrogation is held using the «Green Room» method. This method was developed for Ukraine taking into account international best practices, which includes holding the interrogation so as not to traumatize the child while collecting all the necessary evidence to prove or deny guilt of the suspect. The best interests of the child include one interrogation, video recording of it, and then using this video for further investigation work and avoiding repeated interrogations. Repeated interrogations may be conducted only in case of extreme need, and during these re-interrogations only those questions should be asked to the child that relate to new circumstances of the criminal offense, which were not mentioned during the first interrogation. So that it were possible to find out all the necessary details from a child within one conversation, a number of conditions need to be complied with. The key ones are listed below. 1. The child must be questioned by someone trained to work using the «Green Room» method. Under the current CCP of Ukraine, the person conducting the child’s interrogation at the phase of preliminary investigation is the investigator specially authorized by the head of the pre-trial investigation agency to conduct pre-trial investigations on minors, and at the phase of the trial - the specially designated judge. This does not preclude the investigator’s or the court’s right to instruct persons involved into the interrogation to ask a number of questions to a witness or the victim. In most European countries interrogation of a child victim of sexual violence is held by a child psychologist upon the request of the person conducting the investigation. This

may be a police or prosecution investigator, or a juvenile judge. There are lots of arguments in favor and against the child’s interrogation by a specially trained psychologist, there are also arguments in favor of that the interrogation should be conducted by a trained investigator. The argument in favor of a specially trained investigator is that he/she knows better how to put questions so that the interrogation had the evidence base, as it is not always possible to pass over the necessary questions even through headphones or other technical means. The argument in favor of a psychologist is that a psychologist knows better how to conduct an interrogation not to traumatize the child. 2. Proper interrogation with this method assumes that it is held in a child friendly atmosphere in a place comfortable for him/her, where the child stays alone with the one who interrogates him/her. All other persons who by law must be present during the interrogation - legal representatives, investigators, prosecutors, lawyers, etc. - should be in another room and watch the interrogation through the special mirror glass and with technical means. 3. The «Green Room» method takes into account the different nuances of establishing contact with the child. For example, the investigator should ask how to address the child. One needs to figure out how he/she reacts to the uniform: if it causes a negative reaction - to conduct interrogation without the uniform, if the uniform establishes confidence - to wear it. 4. The «Green Room» method teaches those who conduct interrogation distinguish when a child is telling the truth and when he/she is making things up.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

5. The method includes a list of questions that the child needs to answer. 6. The «Green Room» method implies that the one who conducts the interrogation knows the child psychology, is able to interpret his/her actions, because children understand situations in ways very different from those of adults, respectively, a child behaves differently from an adult in cases of sexual abuse. Such a trained specialist, for example, understands why the child returned to the offender, why he/she feels guilty, and other nuances. These nuances may give an untrained person the idea that the child is not telling the truth. 7. The «Green Room» method requires taking into account age-related characteristics of a child, and, therefore, age-appropriate approaches to interrogating children of different age groups. 8. The method includes clarifying with the child how he/she calls different parts of the body, as children often do not know the names of sex organs or processes associated with genitals, or refer to them using their own special words. If this is not taken into account, important information will be lost. 9. To have a successful interrogation, one must be thoroughly prepared for it - find out from the parents or others as many details of the crime as possible. One needs to know what the child is living with, his/ her hobbies, for example, ask him/her about her favorite cartoon character, his/her interests, how he/ she spends his/her leisure time. It is necessary to find out how the child perceives the uniform, etc. Technical requirements for interrogation with the «Green Room» method Interrogation with the «Green Room» method must be conducted in specially equipped premises. These premises must meet certain conditions. 1. Including two room: the therapeutic and working ones. In the therapeutic room, there are the person conducting the interrogation and the child victim, while in the working one there may be the investigator, the child’s legal representative, prosecutor, attorney, and other actors. 2. The therapeutic room should be rather small in size, so that during the conversation the child felt comfortable. 3. The therapeutic room should be decorated in tranquil colors, so that during the traumatic experience of recalling unpleasant events in his/her life the child did not get bothered with colors. 4. The interrogation room should have windows. 5. The room where interviews with children are held must have good soundproofing.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

6. In the room, all conditions for interrogating children of different age groups must be created: toys for little ones; furniture for children of different age groups: armchairs for older children, a small chair and table for younger ones. 7. There should be colored and white paper, pencils, books for working with children. 8. It is necessary to install a camera or cameras that can be used both for the psychologist’s observing the child’s reactions, and for video recording. 9. The interrogation should be recorded on the PC hard disk with the option of copying it on a flash drive or a CD. 10. There must be special mirror glass available (also called Venetian glass), which allows interrogation participants to observe the process from another technical room while remaining invisible. 11. In the technical room, it should be possible to observe the interrogation (through the glass, a monitor). 12. There should be communication opportunity to guide the psychologist or another person conducting the interrogation by asking questions using headphones or otherwise. Availability of specially equipped rooms for interrogation of children affected by sexual violence in Ukraine and some other countries Ukraine has 5 rooms with the special glass that meet the standards above: one in each - Yalta (the territory of the currently annexed Crimea), Odessa, and Kharkiv, and 2 premises in Kyiv.

Kyiv

Kharkiv

Odessa

Yalta

In Norway there are around 20 specially equipped rooms for interrogation of child victims of sexual abuse. Among them, in Oslo - the capital of Norway - only one such center operates, 4 special facilities in the country operate 24/7. In Croatia there is only one center in Zagreb, which functions for the entire country with its 3 million citizens, the distance from Zagreb to Dubrovnik being 1,000 km.2 Possibility of holding interrogations with the «Green Room» method if specially equipped premises are not available Opinions of experts as to whether it is necessary to conduct interrogations with the «Green Room» method only in a special technologically equipped room differ. Thus, Chairperson of the national NGO «Well-Being of Children» Tetiana Tsuman believes that work under the methodology will be complicated without compliance with all the necessary technical specifications, including for relevant recording of the child’s evidence (it can also be challenged). Other experts believe that in the period while most National Police local department do not have such rooms, and the child and other members of the

interrogation would have to travel a very long distance in order to conduct the interrogation in a specially equipped room, it is possible to do with approaching conditions of the interrogation in available premises to the conditions required for interrogation using the method. Specially equipped rooms for interrogation with the «Green Room» method visited during the survey 3 premises were examined and explored within the survey: one in Kharkiv and two in Kyiv. The premises in Odessa were not visited, because they are located in a shelter for children temporarily passed over to the National Guard of Ukraine. All the rooms were established by non-governmental organizations and are on the balance sheet of public authorities involved into interrogation of child victims of sexual violence. There are no red tape barriers to using the rooms in the child shelter in Kyiv and in Solomaynskiy police department. The disadvantage of the room located in the University of Internal Affairs is the long period of time needed to get a permission for its use.

Key features of the rooms Exact name of the facility

«Green Room» of Solomyansky Police Department of the MDNP in Kyiv

«Friendly Room» equipped as part of pilot model testing

«Green Room» in Kharkiv University of Internal Affairs

The NGO that established the room

«La Strada»

«Well-Being of Children» Foundation

«La Strada»

Where it is located

Juvenile Prevention Unit, Solomyansky Police Department of the MDNP in Kyiv, 5 Kerchenska str.

Center for SocioPsychological Rehabilitation for Children, 21V Mayakovskogo str. in Kyiv

Kharkiv University of Internal Affairs, Kharkiv, 27 50-Richchya SRSR av.

Who actually manages the premises

MDNP in Kyiv

Child Service in Kyiv

University of Internal Affairs in Kharkiv

How to get to the room

Write an application addressed to the chief of the police unit and coordinate the date and time for using the room

Make a call or send a written request to the Child Service in Kyiv

Write an application to the Rector of the University, coordinate the time and date of using the room

How long it may take to organize interrogation in the room

2 hours

Half an hour

About a week

2 According to Ihor Hutsulyak, Team Leader of the Council of Europe Strengthening and Protecting Children’s Rights in Ukraine Project.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

«Friendly Room» equipped as part of testing a pilot model of structural prevention of violence against children

Technical parameters of the facilities Name of the facility

«Green Room» of Solomyansky Police Department of the MDNP in Kyiv

Pilot model of structural prevention of violence against children «Friendly Room»

«Green Room» in Kharkiv University of Internal Affairs

Including two room: the therapeutic and working ones

Venetian glass between the therapeutic and technical rooms

The possibility to observe interrogation on the screen

Communication between the person conducting the interrogation and those watching from the technical room

Size of the therapeutic room

≈10 m

≈12 m

≈10 m

Colors in the therapeutic room

Light brown

Light yellow

Light green

Presence of a window

Sound proofing

Toys

Furniture of different sizes

Colored and white paper, pencils, books

The possibility to see the child from all angles

The possibility to record the interrogation

A separate entrance into the room

As can be seen from the tables and the photos, the rooms for interrogation of child victims of violence meet the basic standards, with only a few minor flaws. For example, the lack of separate entrances into two of the three premises.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Use of equipped premises Child interrogations have been held only in the «Green Room» in the Juvenile Prevention Unit, Solomyansky Police Department of the MDNP in Kyiv. In 2014, the room was used 6 times, and 7 times in the first 8 months of 2015. The room is used in cases of investigation of violence against minors or preteen children. This can be both sexual and any other violence against a child. This room is also used for interrogations of child victims of sexual violence from all over Ukraine. Investigators of all district police offices of the MDNP in Kyiv are aware about existence of the room and understand the need and advantages of holding interrogation using the «Green Room» method, and regularly interrogate child victims of sexual abuse Kyiv. Interrogations of children from other cities in Ukraine are usually initiated by representatives of the child, the Office of the Ombudsperson or Commissioner of the President for Children’s Rights. According to Igor Gutsulyak, which was confirmed by representatives of the Ombudsperson’s office, under one of the cases of sexual abuse of a child, which was personally controlled by Mrs Valeria Lutkovska, the child’s interrogation in the «green room» was held at the initiative of the Ombudsperson’s office. Legal support of the case and the child’s protection, the attorney were provided by representatives of La Strada Ukraine. Thus, speaking about use by investigators of the MDNP in Kyiv of the special room for questioning child victims of sexual abuse, we can see a systematic and responsible approach there. In the cases of using the room for cities other than Kyiv, everything depends on whether there are people out there who are aware about existence and benefits of this room, and whether they have enough strength and desire to insist on using it. Cases of sexual violence are most often supported by psychologist Lyudmila Hrydkovets, who is a volunteer. She is Head of the Department of Pedagogy and Psychology of Kyiv Institute of Business and Technology, PhD in Psychology. The theme of her PhD thesis was associated with the psychosexual culture, and for many years she has been researching the psychosexual culture. She is considered one of the best experts in the field. According to her, she works with the most difficult cases. Lyudmila believes her work is effective: according to her, she manages to work with children so that they gave evidence and were not traumatized. Before the interrogation conducted by Lyudmila Hrydkovets, the investigator holds preliminary

questioning of the child trying to clarify the overall context of how the child sees the situation. The psychologist teaches investigators to conduct the questioning so as not to traumatize the child. For the interrogation, the investigator provides the psychologist with a list of the questions that need to be answered during the interrogation. In addition to obtaining answers to questions of the investigator, the questioning in the «green room» includes work on the trauma received by the child during the sexual assault. After the interrogation, the psychologist draws the conclusion on which actions were committed against the child and passes it over to the investigator for further work. The psychologist may also issue an opinion on whether it is desirable for the child to further testify in court. Most often, he/she does not recommend re-interrogating in court a child who has survived a trauma resulting from sexual violence. In addition to interrogation, the room may be used for conducting questioning at the pre-investigation phase, which aims to find out whether a child suffered sexual abuse. So, due to thorough preparation, use of the «Green Room» method reduces the number of interrogations conducted by the investigator. However, a child interrogated in the «green room» still has to undergo medical and psychological/psychiatric examination, where he/she once again speaks about the case that happened to him/her. Besides, the majority of children even after interrogation in the «green room» have to testify in court. Reasons for non-use of the rooms equipped with the «Green Room» method During an interview with police investigators of Kharkiv, it was found that they do not understand features of the «Green Room» method or the need to interrogate a child in a room specially equipped for this. Out of the advantages of interrogation in the «green room», the investigators only got that the child is interrogated face-to-face with a psychologist, and thus there are no parents or other people who may influence his/her answers. But this was not enough to outweigh the reluctance to organize in one place work of a psychologist, a representative for the child service, for which a «green room» should be used. Another obstacle to using the room is the long time to coordinate with the management of the University of Internal Affairs (it takes about one week) the time of using it. The room in Odessa is not physically accessible, so no interrogations can be conducted there.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

The specially equipped room in Kyiv, Mayakovskogo street, is not used because the organization «WellBeing of Children» failed to convince investigators and judges of correctness of their concept of using the room for interrogation of children or the need to use the «Green Room» method in cases of sexual abuse of children. The model for the room was a similar practice in Poland implemented by «Nobody’s Children» Foundation, employees of which managed to ensure use of their room by prosecutors, police, and judges. Before establishing the room, they discussed the place where it could be set up. Management of Kyiv City Police supported the initiative and proposed to set up the room in one of its district offices. But one of standards for the rooms is that they should not be placed in administrative premises of the police, as this creates a greater sense of danger in children. In an «informal» room a child feels that he/she may get some help. So, the room was equipped in a shelter for children, and after equipping it they transferred it to the institution’s balance sheet. They also signed a partnership agreement with the police in Kyiv. In order that it were possible to interrogate children only in the designated premises without summoning them to court, trainings for judges were held, where the experience of Poland was presented to them. According to project manager Julia Maliyenko, judges were skeptical about the future of the project. In 2008, this practice was very new. It was the first «green room» in Ukraine. They failed to lobby for its mandatory use in cases of sexual abuse. Investigation staff did not understand why use a room for interrogation located outside the police station. Moreover, the room is in Troyeschina, which is a remote district of Kyiv, and this creates additional difficulties for using the space, because it requires that the investigator made efforts to find a car, gasoline, organize the interrogation: «This is also a problem - to bring the child into this room: petrol, service car, and so on...» (employee of the Juvenile Prevention Unit of the Prevention Department of the National Police of Ukraine). Experts say that in order that the investigator made such efforts and applied the new method of interrogation of a child, departmental regulations are needed. While our situation is this: there is no prohibition on using the room, but at the same time there is no obligation to use it for interrogating child victims of sexual abuse. Speaking about the reasons for non-use of the «Green Room» method in Ukraine, we should mention remoteness of the premises that would allow

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

conducting interrogations using this method from police stations. Indeed, as noted above, the premises are only available in three cities across Ukraine. Besides, investigators are hardly aware of benefits of the method. There is also no legislative requirement for mandatory use of the room. All this leads to the fact that the room is used only in rare cases. Conditions required for operation of the «green room» During the interviews, investigators indicated the conditions necessary to use the «Green Room» method and the specially equipped rooms. • Providing easy and fast access to and around the clock operation of the room: «There should be direct cooperation, so that we knew that when we call they promptly allocate this room for us» (investigator of the Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine in Odessa region). • Organization of 24/7 operation of such facilities. Often raping of children happens at night, the police arrives for such a case, and then the child should be taken away from the scene and be subject to investigative activities. While the Code on Administrative Offenses of Ukraine stipulates that a child delivered to police authorities can only be kept at the police station for less than three hours. • Ensuring availability at the right time of psychologists, social service representatives, and other participants of the interrogation. • Physical accessibility of the room, i.e. its close proximity to the scene, because investigators fear that participants of the interrogation, such as the parents, representatives of social services, will just reject the interrogation if the room is too far from the child’s place of residence: «It is good if we work in the city, while there are districts that are up to 300 kilometers away from Odessa. We will not take them there for questioning a child in the «green room.» It’s just technically impossible - all of them will give up the interrogation. This is even more difficult for the child» (investigator of theInvestigation Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police of Ukraine in Odessa region). Experts mention the need for a legal framework for compulsory use of the «Green Room» method and «green room» premises during investigation of cases related to sexual violence. A Kirovohrad region prosecutor recommends that at the stage where «green rooms» are only available in certain regions the following approach were applied: «...Prepare guidelines, e.g. ones joint for prosecutors and the

police. Or they can only apply to the prosecutor’s office, because the prosecutor is authorized to use this method without the consent of the investigator. It can also be an orientation letter. This is locally. In order to do this at the national level or, for example, in Odessa region, one needs to have the relevant document approved by the agency that will manage that. This can be done by the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Interior. This may be an order, a fax message, or a recommendation. This will be the basis for a possible action. If they try and see effectiveness of the method, there will be no problems applying it. Personally, I would be ready to guide my prosecutors towards it.» Besides, awareness-raising work with the juvenile department prosecutor is needed, for him/her to support the initiative and contact juvenile prosecutors and investigators. What’s also needed is support of the local head of the investigation and representatives of the criminal police for children. It is necessary to train the investigators who will be engaged in investigating cases of child victims of sexual violence. Human resources for application of the «Green Room» method As already noted, it is recommended to involve psychologists for interrogating children under the «Green Room» method in Ukraine. Moreover, it is necessary to inform investigators about the specific features of using the «Green Room» method, because their ignorance of the ways to apply the technique and of the nuances associated with interrogation of child victims of sexual abuse leads to the fact that from the very start the child is not interrogated properly, making it impossible to use the method. For example, during the survey experts described a case where attempts were made to bring a girl to the «green room» after a series of failed interrogations, in which she did not share the details necessary for

the investigation. In this case, the investigator asked a representative of the child shelter if he could find a psychologist who could help the girl «talk». This is unacceptable, because a child must be interrogated correctly right from the first interview, when description of the events is the most accurate one. This should be done by a trained specialist using the «Green Room» method. In fact, now in Ukraine there is only one psychologist, Lyudmila Hrydkovets, who works using the «Green Room» method, and she is a volunteer. Lyudmila already possesses several years of practical experience, defended PhD thesis on child sexuality, and motivation to work. However, the volunteer work, lack of trained followers indicate at the sporadic nature of the practice. In fact, the room’s operation depends on one individual, this practice is not institutionalized. In 2008, the «Well-Being of Children» Foundation held training of 30 psychologists in the city of Kyiv, who were supposed to conduct interrogations of child victims of sexual abuse. However, attempts to coordinate operation of the «green room» and these psychologists failed, the trained specialists do not conduct interrogations of child victims of sexual violence. Some of the trained psychologists work in the field of rehabilitation of children affected by sexual violence. The child rehabilitation center has its trained psychologist. They also have the list of the psychologists who were specially trained to work in the room. According to the representative of the child service who presented the room, the work is ongoing now to update the list. There are two psychologists working in Kyiv child center who also had the training. Now these professionals diagnose the children for whom there is the suspicion of that they are subject to violence, including sexual one. If needed, according to the representative of the child service, it will be easy to organize the psychologists’ coming for interrogation.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

«Green Room» by Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs

Conclusions: the technical capacity for interrogation with the «Green Room» method All the required conditions for interrogations using the «Green Room» method - availability and accessibility of equipped premises, a trained experienced psychologist, informed investigators - are currently only available in the special premises of Solomyansky Police Department of the MDNP of Kyiv. With some coordination and organization, it would be possible to conduct interrogations in the room located in Mayakovskogo Street, also in the city of Kyiv. This requires awareness and explanatory work with heads of the police investigative units located on the left bank of Kyiv, specifying the lists of trained psychologists and coordinating their work so that they were present during interrogation of child victims of sexual abuse.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

There are several obstacles - resource and bureaucratic ones - to operation of the well-equipped technically premises in Odessa. The former are due to the lack of trained psychologists who would conduct interrogations. The latter - to the formalistic approach of Kharkiv police chiefs to organization of permission to use the rooms by Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs. To overcome these problems, one may need to train psychologists, to coordinate their work, to work with investigators and their managers, to remove bureaucratic obstacles for the room’s operation.

Technical capacity for interrogating children in court under international standards International practice The best option is when a child does not have to testify in court at all, where the court takes into account video recording of theinterrogation conducted in the «green room», and the defender’s guilt is proven with the minimum traumatization of the child, with a single interrogation. But in our circumstances, this practice not always seems feasible. Moreover, not all countries that have implemented advanced techniques of interrogating child victims of sexual abuse have got rid of testifying in court. In order that children were traumatized as little as possible and were open to talking about cases of sexual violence, courts create especially favorable conditions. For example, in Croatia courts have special premises for interrogating children, consisting of two rooms: the courtroom and a separate room where a child victim of sexual violence talks to a psychologist. The entrance to this room is separate, and the child and his/her representatives enter through the separate entrance, while the defendant and all the other parties enter the court from another entrance, and they do not meet. In the courtroom, there are the prosecution party, representatives of social services, the public prosecutor, police officers. The interrogation is held by a specialized investigative judge with the psychologist’s assistance. The judge formulates questions, the psychologist translates them into the child’s language. All parties have the right to ask questions to the child, through not directly but through the judge, who decides whether such a question is applicable or not. In case of authorizing such a question, he/she passes it over to the psychologist, who formulates it for the child in words understandible for him/her.3 Poland has another practice: the judge is present during the initial interrogation in a special room behind the mirror glass. At the same time, the interrogation is video recorded. A child is not repeatedly summoned to court. Technical capacity for remote interrogation in Ukraine According to the judges, in all or almost all courthouses it is possible to establish remote communication. Technically it is possible that a child with a psychologist is in a certain room of the court, while the accused person and all the other stakeholders are in another room. Thus, no separate entrance into this

room, where the child can theoretically stay during the trial, is provided. This is due to the necessity to change the architecture of the courthouse. And given the fact that courts are not located in specially built premises, but in those allocated by local authorities, this drawback cannot be eliminated. However, it is technically possible to hold interrogation even from another court and to connect the courts by means of technical communication. There are also rooms with a separate entrance for a legendized witness set up within the US Embassy project implemented by the International Organization for Migration. In the room, there are also means to change the image and voice of the one who testifies. The true image of the witness or victim is only seen by the judge. It is possible not to alter the image or voice, just use the room for remote interrogation, if a witness or victim feels more comfortable that way. To get to these rooms, one needs a resolution passed indicating that security measures must be applied to a certain person, as it is required by a certain situation. Such a decision can be made by court, or it can be taken at the request of the claimant party. To the courts where such rooms are equipped, upon a preliminary agreement, representatives of any other courts can come to use the room for interrogation of witnesses and holding their sittings there. These rooms have been set up in 13 courts of Ukraine, and they are used under different articles, but they have never been used yet in cases of sexual abuse of children. In Chernihiv, they even described a case where in the court of appeal that has the respective equipment they heard the case of asix-year old girl who had suffered debauchery by a neighbor when she was 4 years old. Despite availability of the facilities for remote interrogation, the girl had to testify in the courtroom, moreover, the defendant was not even taken out of the room. Oksana Gorbunova, the IOM representative responsible for the project’s implementation, commented on the incident as follows: «That issue that you raise is very important, it clearly indicates that we need to work with judges. This is not a one day job. They need to be brought together, we need to convey the information to them. Far not every judge is aware about those international standards. It is necessary to work with them, there I see the prospect of a lot of work for you in the future. The equipment is there, it is operational. Why not use it?»

3 According to Ihor Hutsulyak, Team Leader of the Council of Europe Strengthening and Protecting Children’s Rights in Ukraine Project.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Statistics of using the court rooms in the period from January 2012 till December 2014 Name of the court

How many times the room has been used

Articles under which the room was used

Court of Appeal of Dnipropetrovsk region

307

Rivne Municipal Court

307, 302, 303, 205, 212

Court of Appeal of Ivano-Frankivsk region

307, 309, 310, 263

Halytsky Municipal Court of the city of Lviv

307, 303

Shevchenkivsky district court of the city of Chernivtsi

–

Suvorivsky district court of the city of Kherson

130

149 , 307, 309, 115, 190, 358, 185, 115, 190

Khmelnytsky Municipal Court

149, 309, 307, 311, 263

Court of Appeal of Zhytomyr region

307

Court of Appeal of Chernihiv region

307, 204, 263, 14, 185, 186, 309

Lutsk Municipal Court

102

149, 307, 309

Court of Appeal of Zaporizhya region

–

Vinnytsya Municipal Court

–

Court of Appeal of Luhansk region

307

Description of the rooms visited in Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernihiv In the course of the survey, two of such specialized facilities for remote interrogation were visited: in the Court of Appeal of Chernihiv and the Municipal Court of Ivano-Frankivsk. As can be seen from the description and the photos, the rooms are not at all adapted to children’s needs, absence of a window may be a frightening factor, but it is better for a child to testify from an unsuitable room remotely than from the courtroom. Moreover, court representatives mentioned in the interviews that they are ready, if needed, to equip the room for a child: bring toys, books, paper, and other needed things. There are no obstacles for a psychologist to be in the room.

Consequently, there are no impediments to using rooms equipped for interrogation of legendized witnesses in cases of court hearing of child sexual abuse. The reason for non-use of such technical opportunities is ignorance of judges on the matter. The solution may be development of guidelines and their distribution among judges. Moreover, use of these rooms should be ensured by prosecutors, representatives of a child, who should also be informed of such technical opportunities.

Key features of the premises visited. Location

Name of the facility

Description of the room

Chernihiv region

The courtroom for interrogation of protected individuals

A room less than 20 sq.m. In the room, there is a window, a table, a chair, a memo for the witness.

Ivano-Frankivsk region

The courtroom for hearing cases of legendized individuals

The room size approximately 10 meters. No window. In the room, there is a table, a chair, a memo for the witness.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Programs to combat sexual violence and human trafficking implemented by public and non-governmental organizations Activities of the Ministry of Interior In 2007 Ukraine ratified Lanzarote Convention, which requires creation of child friendly conditions of interrogation. Work on implementation of the Convention - on implementation, use of the «green room» method for interrogating child victims of sexual violence - was launched by the Ministry of Interior in 2008. In 2008 an internal order was issued that concerned «green rooms» in particular. Besides, pursuant to this Convention guidelines for interrogation of a child using the «Green Room» method were developed, but mostly these guidelines remain on paper, because they are not binding: «For example, I believe that the human factor always works. The fact that it is a recommendation, not always compulsory, for absolute performance. For instance, some investigator specifically authorized to conduct proceedings involving children gets interested, reads these guidelines, takes them into account, and will use them. This is about his professional level, his professionalism. While another investigator does not allocate time to read these 60 pages. It’s the human factor» (employee of the Juvenile Prevention Unit of the Prevention Department of the National Police of Ukraine (part of the Interior Ministry of Ukraine)). Also, the Ministry of the Interior has developed estimates for setting up «green rooms», and proposal letters have been submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine for allocation of additional funds for the budget of the Ministry of Interior. But year after year, these financial estimations have no been considered due to lack of funds. OSCE programs OSCE holds training for various specialists dealing with the issue of human trafficking. Thus, they conduct training of police representatives aiming to change the prejudice against victims of trafficking, so that they did not blame them for what happened to them. Pilot projects with doctors, surgeons, and gynecologists are also being implemented to identify victims of human trafficking. A program of corrective work with those who committed domestic violence was implemented. The organization has not held any special programs or trainings on investigation and prevention of child sexual abuse.

The practice of the International Organization for Migration The IOM implemented in Ukraine the program to set up the rooms for interrogation of legendized witnesses, which began in 2007 and ended in 2015. The project was funded by the US Embassy. The concept of the project included installation of the equipment only in the courts that were really prepared to work with the equipment. For that sake, the court had to undertake certain steps: to repair the premises where the equipment was to be installed, to provide for a separate entrance into the room. The court also had to identify a staff member to be trained to work with this equipment. The first room was opened in 2007 in Ivano-Frankivsk Court of Appeal on the initiative of the then President of the court Nadia Stefaniv. At that time the legal framework for using these rooms was not yet in place, but in the course of the room’s operation the practice got enshrined in law: «Then there were no such provisions in the Code of Criminal Procedure, but we dared that, and then the law followed» (President of the City Court of IvanoFrankivsk). Moreover, IOM managed to insist on specialization of judges and prosecutors under Article 149 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (human trafficking). Across Ukraine, there are 52 investigators of regional investigative offices who in case the criminal proceedings under this article take them over. To ensure specialization, contacts were established with the Ministry of Interior to convince its employees of the need for specialization of prosecutors and investigators, the respective facts were collected, special analysis was conducted. For the first time, specialization of investigators was held in 2006-2007, then, after the reform of the Interior Ministry, it was lost and restarted in 2014. Specialization is more efficient, because working with a limited number of specialists in a certain area makes it possible to train them: «We work with these specialized investigators. This is a much more effective approach - working with a dedicated specialist specifically in this area. In Ukraine, there are thousands of investigators, try to train them all. While if these are the specific 52, then you can teach them within two workshops,

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

thoroughly share the experience. We requested the same specialization for prosecutors» (National Project Coordinator for Combating Human Trafficking of the International Organization for Migration). Specialization of prosecutors will also make it possible to get trained specialists, who among other things will take care of proper trial in the cases: «In April, this specialization was approved. The role of the prosecutor is very important. The prosecutor may raise the issue of the need of hearing behind closed doors, hearing without certain persons in the courtroom, hearing through the equipment. Here, you see, if the judge does not work properly, the prosecutor, the attorney need to pay attention to that. Here, we need to work not only with judges» (National Project Coordinator for Combating Human Trafficking of the International Organization for Migration). However, the current system of hearing of cases only by specialized judges is formally impossible because there is automated distribution of cases, while in order that a special judge managed a case, the decision must be made by the president of the court.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

According to experts, it would be better if the legislation were amended respectively to ensure distribution of cases based on specialization of judges. Non-governmental organizations such as La Strada Ukraine, «Well-Being of Children» Foundation introduced projects in Ukraine aimed at setting up technical facilities for interrogation of children affected by sexual violence equipped according to the best international practices. Thus, the programs that are being implemented by NGOs specifically for interrogation of child victims of sexual violence are so far not systematic, pilot ones. These programs are not always perceived by local executors and do not result in changed practices of interrogation of children in general. A good example of application and use of the technical capacity to change the practice of interrogating child victims of sexual violence are the practices to combat human trafficking, implemented by IOM and the OSCE.

Training programs for those involved in interrogation of child victims of sexual abuse Project of the Council of Europe to train professionals In 2012, the Council of Europe launched a project in Ukraine to develop a methodology for questioning children who witnessed violence or were victims of violence or committed family violence. A project of cascade trainings for police officers (investigators and representatives of the criminal police for children), social workers, mostly represented by services for children and youth, as well as centers for family, children, and youth, practicing psychologists in the education system was implemented within the program. This project was funded by the Norwegian government. The project ended on May 29, 2015. All in all, 98 national cascade trainings were held in all regions of Ukraine. In each region, both the police and social workers were trained, in some - psychologists as well. At the first phase, trainings for trainers were held. Currently, there is already the network of 19 Ukrainian trainers who, after training in different regions of Ukraine, have presented the methodology of interrogating children, including interrogation of child victims of sexual violence. These trainings were held for 900 employees of social services, 850 investigators of the Main Investigation Department, and 100 practicing psychologists. These specialists work at their jobs, their contact details are available from their respective ministries. The problem is that those were one-day trainings, and actually it was just an introduction into the new techniques, not teaching the specialists to use them. In addition, the Council of Europe organized within this project study tours for government officials to introduce them to similar facilities in Croatia and Norway. The visit to Croatia was even specifically focused on working with victims of sexual violence. Besides, based on proceedings of the training held by the Council of Europe in cooperation with La Strada and «Well-Being of Children» Foundation, guidelines on the methodology of questioning children were developed, which is now being prepared for publication. Ad hoc projects: the School of Judges in Kyiv, training of specialists within the framework of opening a child-friendly room The NGO «Well-Being of Children» conducted a training for the panel of judges before launching the child-friendly room in 2008. Judges and public prosecutors were trained. They signed an agreement

on cooperation in training of judges with the Academy of Judges. It was a training for a group of 25 to 30 people. The trainers were experts from Europe, particularly from Poland: representatives of Polish NGOs «Nobody’s Children» and «Mazowiecka Center.» According to one of the experts surveyed, the Academy of Judges took from «Well-Being of Children» materials to introduce the aspect of interrogation of children in courts into curricula of advanced training of judges. The organization also published the «Child Testifies in Court» manual. At the workshop held for judges, they considered aspects of the behavior of judges and prosecutors in cases where children testify in court. They also held training workshops for the psychologists who were supposed to conduct the interrogations. 25 to 30 psychologists and social pedagogues from the city of Kyiv were trained. Since 2008, these psychologists have not conducted a single interrogation. Only two of these experts are known to be working with cases of sexual violence against children. Their contact details are with the police. There is no information about the rest. Moreover, training of representatives of the criminal police for children was held within the project. Study visits to Poland took place to familiarize them with the experience of operation of the Polish child-friendly rooms. In turn, the International Organization for Migration conducted workshops for judges from regions, during which they were introduced to the rooms equipped to protect legendized witnesses. The workshops covered the topics of the technical equipment in the rooms, and the legal aspects of their use in hearing cases of human trafficking, specifics of such cases in general. Over the past year, three of such workshops were held and were attended by 25 to 30 judges. Consequently, the activities of training experts involved in interrogation of child victims of sexual abuse cannot be considered effective or comprehensive. There is no specialization or, consequently, in-depth training of the investigators, psychologists, and prosecutors who could use the «Green Room» method. A lot of effort and money of the Council of Europe were invested into the training, but one-day trainings are not sufficient for mastering the complex techniques of interrogating children in special facilities. The training and education activities conducted by the «WellBeing of Children» Foundation were more profound and fundamental, but they failed to ensure the trained specialists’ application of acquired knowledge and skills in practice. STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

Conclusions and recommendations Possible options to resolve issues related to interrogation of a minor victim of sexual violence • To allocate within the legislative framework a separate category of cases - sexual violence against children - and develop the procedure of investigation and trial to include application of the «green room» method, court trial under special procedures, involving specialized investigators, prosecutors, and psychologists. • To adopt amendments to the CCP to allow courts accept video recording of the interrogation at the phase of pre-trial investigation as evidence. • To provide for a free public attorney for victims of sexual violence. • To set up interdisciplinary teams to work with cases of sexual violence on the ground. • To adopt amendments to the CCP to stipulate interrogation of child victims of sexual violence only using child-friendly interrogation techniques. • To adopt legislative amendments that would stipulate questioning juvenile victims of sexual violence in court only in a separate room, remotely, involving a psychologist for questioning. • To stipulate in law a ban on contacts with the child allegedly being a victim of sexual violence during operative and search activities. It is also recommended to prohibit touching upon aspects related to sexual violence during preliminary questioning, leaving the opportunity to question the child about the events that occurred within an offense against sexual integrity of the child only within the formal interrogation. • To introduce amendments to legislation that would cancel forensic medical examination in cases where there was no sexual intercourse with the child that would leave any traces. For that sake, it is necessary to categorize severity of the offense depending on the child’s age. • To define sexual harassment as a criminal sexual offense. • To stipulate in law that a child’s questioning at all phases - pre-trial investigation and the trial - must be held by the same specialist, who must accompany the child. • To amend the CCP to stipulate presence during interrogation of a child of a qualified, specially trained - not just qualified - psychologist, certainly not a teacher. • To train the required number of psychologists and establish a database of them, which should

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

be available to local coordinating bodies and that investigators working on cases of sexual abuse of children and representatives of the criminal police for children must be aware of, to oblige them only use services of these psychologists. • To implement at universities special training of police officers, psychologists, prosecutors to work with child victims of crimes, including sexual abuse • To ensure the function of child services as coordinating bodies. • To work with specialists from child services, who often act as representatives of children in cases of sexual violence, including informing them about the necessary measures during interrogation at all stages of the case for interests of the child. • To hold joint workshops, seminars, and other events that would facilitate contacts among representatives of child services, law enforcers, and social services. • To hold joint workshops, seminars, and other events to promote contact between investigators and psychologists. • To combine surveys in the «green room» with psychological/psychiatric and forensic medical examinations. • To organize training events where those who are already using the «Green Room» method and the technical facilities would share their experience with other investigators, prosecutors, social workers (trust of investigators to police representatives from other regions will be higher than to trainers). • To initiate sexual education of children from early age, within which it is necessary to speak to them in the understandable language about what genitals are and explain that nobody can touch their genitals (except for physicians), show or ask or force them to touch theirs. • To conduct an awareness raising campaign among stakeholders in the process - investigators, prosecutors, judges - about the international standards of interrogating child victims of sexual abuse. • To replace in the laws the term «interrogation of a witness or victim of sexual violence» with «an interview.» • To adopt amendments to legislation that would ensure questioning of child victims of sexual violence in a neutral territory, not in police stations. • To learn from the experience of Poland, where during interrogation the judge is in the «green room» behind the glass, and the child is not repeatedly called to court.

The factors that could contribute to implementation of the new practices

Obstacles to implementing the new practices of interrogating child victims of sexual abuse

• Investigators are interested in learning about interrogation of child victims of sexual violence. Those who attended the Council of Europe trainings said that they were interesting. • Investigators show concerns about the state of child victims of sexual violence, avoid traumatizing them once again, so the practice of using specially equipped premises intended to reduce traumatization should be of interest to them. • Ukraine already has four specially equipped rooms for interrogation of children with the «Green Room» method. • Courts have the technical capacity to hold remote interrogation of children. • Ukraine has declared its commitment to European integration, one of the pre-requisites of which is implementation of Lanzeron Convention. • The specialists who now conduct child friendly interrogations are willing to train psychologists (Lyudmila Hrydkovets), social workers, and investigators (La Strada representatives). • In Ukraine, there is the network of 19 trainers who already have the experience of conducting training and who are ready to hold trainings on proper interrogation of child victims of sexual violence. • 30 trained psychologists have been prepared to conduct interrogations of child victims of sexual abuse (by «Well-Being of Children»). • The professionals working in the field of combating sexual violence have the experience of setting up multidisciplinary teams and are ready to share this experience. • In Ukraine, there are NGOs - La Strada, Women’s Consortium of Ukraine, and «Well-Being of Children», etc. - that have long been working on the topic of combating sexual violence against children. • The Council of Europe supports activities aimed at combating sexual violence. •

• A child victim of sexual crimes does not receive a free public attorney. • A child victim of sexual violence has no social backing during pre-trial investigation and the trial, while the parents are often in a state of shock or are involved into the crime. This leads to that lots of things that would improve the situation of the child are not done, for example: insistence on conducting the interrogation in the «green room», filing the motion for holding interrogation in court remotely, for taking the defendant out of the courtroom. • The legislation does not contain a separate category for such cases, there is no written procedure for special consideration at the phase of pre-trial investigation and the trial of cases for the category of «child victims of sexual violence and exploitation.» This is one of the reasons why investigators do not conduct interrogations in accordance with the international standards applicable to this category of people. • A child at the trial may get lost and not answer the required questions that would make it possible to prove the guilt or innocence of the accused person. • There is no single database of the psychologists who could participate in such interrogations. It turns out that there are trained psychologists, but investigators do not know about their existence, and not qualified psychologists are involved into the interrogations but just any available. Moreover, availability of such a database is not required by the current legislative framework. • No special training for psychologists participating in criminal proceedings involving children who suffered from sexual violence is provided. • Investigators often do not know which psychologists work in the field. • Absence of juvenile justice leads to the situation where the same individuals conduct interrogations with adults and children.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

• Investigators, prosecutors, judges look forward to reforming of the police, prosecution, and courts and are not motivated to take part in training or implement the changes into the practice of interrogation. • Representatives of child services have no idea about the available opportunities to optimize interrogation of children at all investigation phases. • There is no contact or cooperation among social services, services for children, and law enforcement agencies. • Out of the 5 available premises equipped under the «green room» standards, 4 are located in the territory controlled by Ukraine, and only one is used. • The «green room» in Solomyansky department of criminal police for children in Kyiv does not work at full capacity either. Investigators from neighboring district use the room consciously: from Shevchenkivsky, Podilsky, Holosiyivsky ones. In some cases, investigators from Dniprovsky and Svyatoshinsky districts have also used the room. When the room was used by representatives from other cities, that happened upon the insistence of the Ombudsperson on the La Strada lawyer, who knows about availability of room.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE

• Most investigators and other stakeholders in Ukraine are not aware of existence of «green rooms.» • There is no mandatory legislative requirement to conduct interrogations of child victims of sexual violence using the «Green Room» method. • The stakeholders - judges, prosecutors, investigators - often have no idea of international standards of interrogating child victims of sexual abuse. • Ukraine has trained psychologists to conduct interrogations of children who suffered from sexual violence, but they are losing their acquired knowledge and skills without being able to apply them in practice. • There are no interdisciplinary teams to work with cases of sexual violence against children. • The experts who have studied the situation regarding introduction of the innovations, highlight the human factor, i.e. reluctance of a certain category of people to work in a new way. Such people feel comfortable working under the old schemes, and introduction of anything new for them is about leaving their comfort zone.

Recommendations based on findings of the report Based on findings of the survey, in order to reduce psychological traumatization of children during pretrial and trial procedures, it is recommended: • to rename the procedural action of «interrogation» as an «interview»; after ruling on recognition of a child as a victim, the interview materials should be attached without further interrogation; • to conduct interviews with the child immediately after notification of competent authorities about facts alleging sexual abuse; • to conduct interviews only in premises specially equipped or adapted for this purpose; • to ensure the child’s support by his/her legal representative or, if appropriate, by an adult of his/ her choice, unless a motivated decision is made regarding that individual; • to ensure that all interviews of the child (if there is a need for additional action or new facts of the sexual abuse are revealed) are held by the same person specially trained for this purpose (investigator, psychologist, investigation judge);

• to legally consolidate the procedure of interviewing child victims of sexual violence during pre-trial investigation and during the trial, having as much as possible harmonized it with the European standards in the field of protection of children’s rights. These amendments include: application of a special procedure of criminal proceedings in cases involving juvenile witnesses and victims before they reach the age of 18; establishing the rules on video recording of the initial interview of child victims of sexual violence and child witness instead of their further interrogation, and the option of attaching it to criminal proceeding materials of the case without direct participation of the child in court hearings.

STUDYING PRECONDITIONS FOR INTRODUCING THE NEW PRACTICE OF INTERROGATING/QUESTIONING A CHILD VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE