Judging by the report 'The Spanish justice against child sexual abuse in the family environment', it would be said that when children are in these situations, they do not find adequate protection.
The reasons?: Doubt the credibility of the victim (based on their young age), delayed investigations or file cases. I believe that any society should take care of children carefully, and this includes offering them sufficient guarantees that they will not suffer damage again.
And what do some little ones get when they sexually abuse them? the disbelief of adults, and a very slow administrative performance. It is not the first time we talked about sexual abuse of minors, and when we explain what are the 'seven steps to protect children', it was already quite clear (I think) that little ones don't usually make up stories about someone abusing them. So this myth should already be eradicated from society, the media and public administrations.
The cases and the records analyzed confirm that in Spain international standards for the protection of children in the field of the Administration of Justice are not being applied and that it is urgent to review the regulations and judicial practice
In a series of cases analyzed, it becomes clear that, given the difficulty of proving the facts in these cases, due among other reasons to the young age of the victims, the Administration of Justice tends to file the cases without sufficiently and diligently investigating the cases, leaving them in serious situations of lack of protection and risk.
The report has detected a starting barrier: neither the child nor the parent who denounces is credible to judges, prosecutors and lawyers, who often claim lack of credibility of the victims or that they are manipulated
The young age should be a incentive to clarify the facts, not an added impediment. A child cannot be required to express himself as an adult to be able to prove the facts that it relates, what is required is that the State put in place all the means and maximum precautions to clarify the facts and protect the child, but what we have seen is that given the difficulty of proving such serious events , the judges prefer to file the causes.
A judicial system that has deficiencies
Professionals involved in judicial processes of cases of child sexual abuse are not specialized, in part because investigating judges, psychosocial teams, forensic lawyers, are not required to specialize.
But the lack of training can have a great impact when it comes to promoting research, assessing evidence and deciding on the case file.
They are worrisome deficiencies detected in all cases when determining the best interest of the child and the lack of speed in the processes. In addition, in the civil sphere, measures are taken on custody and custody and visitation, sometimes when the criminal process is opened for the alleged sexual abuse, without taking into account the possible abuses or risks for children.
Recommendations to consider
Approval of a regulations that recognize and promote expressly the rights of children in judicial proceedings.
Secure the adequate preparation and specialization of professionals and appropriate methodologies.
To guarantee advice and specialized information to the legal representatives of children who report a case of child abuse.
Establish judicial protection measures so that the aggressions are not repeated.
Guarantee maximum priority in judicial investigation of these crimes.
Many of these recommendations are included in the Directive on combating sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, which the European Union approved at the end of 2011 and that all Member States must implement before end of 2013
