On 7-9 November 2018, Margrét Kristín Magnúsdóttir and Paola Cardenas from Barnahus Iceland trained Latvian participants on forensic interviews of children in cases of sexual abuse.
The training started with 20 participants, including investigators from the State Police and psychologists from Crisis Centers. The topics covered included:
- taking into account the child’s age and ability to testify;
- memory peculiarities;
- the role of the victim’s testimony in the case of sexual abuse;
- forensic interviews techniques;
- forensic interviews protocols (NCAC, NICHD, etc.);
- the role and tasks of the forensic interviewer;
- practical training of step by step interviewing;
- specialist co-operation before, during and after
forensic interview
On the third day, additional experts Centrs Dardedze, the State Police and Forensic experts were invited to discuss:
- The national context of child-friendly justice, including possible benefits and challenges of using a child-friendly approach in criminal investigations;
- Psychological/psychiatric forensic expertise;
- The investigation of sexual crimes from the police perspective;
- Child rights principles and child-friendly justice;
- Exploratory interviews, and how to implement them in Latvia.
Participants were supplied with printed and translated materials, the NICHD protocol manual, worksheets, cases study materials, a poster on child rights principles, and a brochure for parents on victims rights in criminal proceedings. They evaluated the training as very useful and well organized.
The training was organised by Centrs Dardedze as part of the PROMISE 2 project.