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Reasons for interviewing the child i) To get a picture of the child's physical and emotional state; ii) To establish whether the child needs urgent medical attention; iii) To hear the child's version of the circumstances leading to the concern; iv) To get a picture of the child's relationship with their parents or family; v) To support the child to participate in decisions affecting them according to their age and maturity; vi) To find out who the child trusts; vii) To inform the child of any further steps to be taken in the enquiry; 13 viii) To assure the child that he/she is now safe and would be cared for, looked after, protected; ix) To identify areas that would / might need counselling / psychiatric intervention. 1.1 Interview setting The more comfortable a child is, the more information he is likely to share. Also, children may be too embarrassed to share intimate details when they believe that others can overhear what they are saying. As far as possible, interviews should be conducted in a safe, neutral and child-friendly environment. The interviewer can incorporate elements to make a room appear child-friendly, such as toys, art material or other props. Distractions like ringing phones, other people‟s voices and elaborate play material should be removed as far as possible. 1.2 Things to be kept in mind while interviewing a child i) All children should be approached with extreme sensitivity and their vulnerability recognized and understood. ii) Try to establish a neutral environment and rapport with the child before beginning the interview. For example, if the interview must be conducted in the child‟s home, select a private location away from parents or siblings that appears to be the most neutral spot. iii) Try to select locations that are away from traffic, noise, or other disruptions. Items such as telephones, cell phones, televisions, and other potential distractions should be temporarily turned off. iv) The interview location should be as simple and uncluttered as possible, containing a table and chairs. Avoid playrooms or other locations with visible toys and books that will distract children. v) Always identify yourself as a helping person and try to build a rapport with the child. vi) Make the child comfortable with the interview setting. Gather preliminary information about the child‟s verbal skills and cognitive maturity. Convey that the goal of the interview is for the child to talk and ask questions that invite the child to talk (e.g., “tell me about your family”). vii) Ask the child if he/she knows why they have come to see you. Children are often confused about the purpose of the interview or worried that they are in trouble. 14 viii) Convey and maintain a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. Do not express surprise, disgust, disbelief, or other emotional reactions to descriptions of the abuse. ix) Avoid touching the child and respect the child‟s personal space. Do not stare at the child or sit uncomfortably close. x) Do not suggest feelings or responses to the child. For example, do not say, “I know how difficult this must be for you.” xi) Do not make false promises. For example, do not say, “Everything will be okay” or “You will never have to talk about this again.” xii) Establish ground rules for the interview, including permission for the child to say he/she doesn‟t know and permission to correct the interviewer. xiii) Ask the child to describe what happened, or is happening, to them in their own words. The interviewer should, as far as possible, follow the child‟s lead; however, he may have to delicately introduce the topics of the abuse. xiv) Always begin with open-ended questions. Avoid asking the child a direct question, such as “Did somebody touch your privates last week?”. Instead, try “I understand something has been bothering you. Tell me about it.” xv) After initially starting like this, move on to allow the child to use free narrative. For example, you can say, “I want to understand everything about [refer back to child‟s statement]. Start with the first thing that happened and tell me everything you can, even things you don‟t think are very important.” xvi) Avoid the use of leading questions that imply an answer or assume facts that might be in dispute and use direct questioning only when open-ended questioning/free narrative has been exhausted. xvii) The interviewer should clarify the following: a) Descriptions of events. b) The identity of the perpetrator(s). c) Whether allegations involve a single event or multiple events. d) The presence and identities of other witnesses. e) Whether similar events have happened to other children. f) Whether the child told anyone about the event(s). g) The time frame and location/venue. h) Alternative explanations for the allegations. xviii) However, interviewers should avoid probing for unnecessary details. For example, it may not be essential to get a detailed description of an alleged perpetrator if he/she 15 is someone who is familiar to the child (e.g., a relative or teacher). Although it is useful if the child can recall when and where each event occurred, children may have difficulty specifying this information if they are young, if the event happened a long time ago, or if there has been ongoing abuse over a period of time xix) The child may get exhausted frequently and easily; in such an event, it is advisable not to prolong the inquiry, but rather to divert the child‟s mind and come back to the sexual abuse when the child is refreshed. xx) Regularly check if the child is hungry or thirsty, tired or sleepy, and address these needs immediately. xxi) Let the child do the talking and answer any questions the child may have in a direct manner. xxii) Avoid questioning the child as to why he behaved in a particular way (e.g., “Why didn‟t you tell your mother that night?”). Young children have difficulty answering such questions and may feel that you are blaming them for the situation. xxiii) Avoid correcting the child‟s behaviour unnecessarily during the interview. It can be helpful to direct the child‟s attention with meaningful explanations (e.g., “I have a little trouble hearing, so it helps me a lot if you look at me when you are talking so that I can hear you”) but avoid correcting nervous behaviour that may be slowing the pace of the interview or even preventing it from proceeding. xxiv) When two professionals will be present, it is best to appoint one as the primary interviewer, with the second professional taking notes or suggesting additional questions when the interview is drawing to a close. xxv) Interviewers should not discuss the case in front of the child. xxvi) Individuals who might be accused of influencing children to discuss abuse, such as parents involved in custody disputes or therapists, should not be allowed to sit with children during interviews. xxvii) In some cases, the interviewer may consider it appropriate to allow a support person to sit in on the interview; but in these situations, such a person be instructed that only the child is allowed to talk unless a question is directed to the support person. Also, the support person should be seated out of the child‟s line of vision to avoid allegations that the child was reacting to nonverbal signals from a trusted adult. xxviii) When planning investigative strategies, consider other children (boys as well as girls) that may have had contact with the alleged perpetrator. For example, there may be 16 an indication to examine the child‟s siblings. Also consider interviewing the parent or guardian or other family member of the child, without the child present. xxix) The interviewer should convey to all parties that no assumptions have been made about whether abuse has occurred. xxx) The interviewer should take the time necessary to perform a complete evaluation and should avoid any coercive quality to the interview. xxxi) Interview procedures may be modified in cases involving very young, minimally verbal children or children with special needs (e.g., developmentally delayed, electively mute, non-native speakers). xxxii) Try to establish the child‟s developmental level in order to understand any limitations as well as appropriate interactions. It is important to realize that young children have little or no concept of numbers or time, and that they have limited vocabulary and may use terminology differently to adults, making interpretation of questions and answers a sensitive matter. xxxiii) A variety of non-verbal tools may be used to assist young children in communication, including drawings, toys, dollhouses, dolls, puppets, etc. Since such materials have the potential to be distracting or misleading they should be used with care. They are discretionary for older children. xxxiv) Storybooks, colouring books or videos that contain explicit descriptions of abuse situations are potentially suggestive and are primary teaching tools. They are typically not appropriate for information-gathering purposes. In certain situations, the interviewer may consider it appropriate to interview the child victim together with his/her parent or guardian or other person in whom the child has trust and confidence. In such cases, the following guidance may be useful: i) When possible, interviewing the primary caregiver and reviewing other collateral data first to gather background information may facilitate the evaluation process. ii) The child should be seen individually, except when the child refuses to separate from a parent/guardian. Discussion of possible abuse with the child in the presence of the caregiver during evaluation interviews should be avoided except when necessary to elicit information from the child. In such cases, the interview setting should be structured to reduce the possibility of improper influence by the caregiver on the child‟s behaviour or statements. 17 iii) In some cases, joint sessions with the child and the non-accused caregiver or accused or suspected individual might be helpful to obtain information regarding the overall quality of the relationships. Such joint sessions should not be conducted for the purpose of determining whether abuse occurred based on the child‟s reactions to the participating adult. Joint sessions should not be conducted if they will cause significant distress for the child.