April 18, 2000
Suffer the children CRIME: When a crime is committed, the victims-especially children-are often further traumatised by those trying to help. But things are changing Usnisa Sukhsvasti A plainclothes policewoman consoles a child who had been abused by her employer to the point that she threatened to jump off a building. Legal procedures in Thailand are helping to make crime investigation a less traumatic experience for children. Picture by SURAPOL PROMSAKHA NA SAKOLNAKORN A computer malfunction just at the start of the afternoon session threatened to disrupt the proceedings of the UK/Thai Child Protection Training programme organised by the British Embassy and Northumbria Police. But the two programme conductors, Detective Chief Inspector Pat Blue and Detective Sergeant Julie Hogg from Northumbria Police, were unfazed. It was just another of those incidents when you have to be flexible and adapt as best you can. They deal with it all the time in their line of child protection work in the UK. Detective Sergeant Hogg took the floor and improvised. She slid a video into the VCR, dimmed the lights, and the class came face to face with a US police trainer, verbally creating a vivid, moment-by-moment, enactment of a nightmare situation in which his audience, supposedly American patrolmen out on a regular beat, are rendered powerless by two of society's lowest and filthiest scum, disarmed, and ultimately raped. To add insult to injury, there is a distinct barrier between the victim and his colleagues following the aftermath of the event, not to mention a loss of face on the part of the victim. A big, burly policeman, raped? The feeling of sympathy from others is weakened by disbelief and, even worse, ridicule. "We use this video to get through to men in the training programmes," explained Ms Hogg. "It shocks them. Men have a perspective that they are powerful, they've got a gun, and they think a woman or a child in such a situation should fight somebody off. They don't understand the powerlessness of a victim in this kind of abuse, and I'm trying to get that message across by using that kind of material." This is powerful material, a no-holds-barred description in lurid detail of a rape, complete with foul language, but also necessary when dealing with such a sensitive issue. Rape, and other forms of abuse, especially child abuse, have much too long been overlooked in terms of seriousness. And when brought forward as a case, these incidents have been handled without the necessary understanding and sensitivity, often leading to added trauma for the victims, especially when they are minors. According to the British Embassy's deputy head of mission, Paul Sizeland, "The UK/Thai cooperation on Child Protection is part of a wider Asia/Europe (Asem) initiative on child welfare, which was endorsed by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and other Asem leaders at the London Summit in April 1998. "The training here is specifically tailored to help the fight against child abuse in Thailand. And among their main aims is to assist the Thai authorities in implementing the latest legislation, including that of interviewing child witnesses which comes into force this September. Other topics include investigative techniques, victim care and multi-agency networking." Over 60 individuals from the Royal Thai Police, social workers, attorneys, NGOs and related government agencies completed the training programme in 1998 and 1999, and another 45 joined the last round of training which took place in Bangkok and Chiang Mai in March of this year. Detective Sergeant Hogg has been following the developments of the training programme, and is pleased with the results. Detective Sergeant Julie Hogg of the Northumbria Police provided invaluable tips on interviewing techniques to participants of a Child Protection Training programme. "There have been big steps forward since the first time I came to Thailand. I know that there have been agencies working together; Chulalongkorn University, the Centre for the Protection of Child Rights (CPCR), the Department of Public Welfare, and the police. They now have special child-protection units set up. Since they are quite new, they are still building upon them with the foundations that were set three years ago. The next step is to encourage the networking of the agencies to work together for the benefit of the child." Detective Sergeant Hogg has facilitated training sessions in India, the European countries, in South America, and her native UK. As a manager of a child protection unit in the Northumbria Police force, she lends credibility to the training because she can share her experiences with other agencies. At the age of 41, she has been working as an investigator for 20 years, joining the police force as soon as she completed high school. For the last nine years she has been a specialist investigator in child protection. With her father being in the police force, you can almost understand the appeal that drew her to this work. "It was something I was interested in and wanted to do. I am happy with the direction my life's taken. I enjoy my work very much, and find that I've been able to make some big changes in the way people approach this kind of investigation, so I get a lot of satisfaction from it." Her investigative work is concentrated on abuse within the family, or within an institution, or by someone who is a professional teacher, caretaker or social worker. As is often the case, child abuse is committed by people with close connections to the victim, making it even more difficult for the victim to come forward. Rape trauma syndrome Rape is a crime that occurs with alarming frequency, and brought to justice only rarely, mostly due to fear and reluctance on the part of the victim to come forward. Though physically they recover, they are often left with a traumatising experience that leaves a severe and lasting mark on their emotional well-being. According to Detective Sergeant Julie Hogg of Northumbria Police, Rape Trauma Syndrome breaks down into the following phases: 1. Acute phase During the first 24 hours there could be a full range of emotions, from loss of memory, confusion, calmness, hysteria. There is absolutely no stereotypical rape victim. Fear of death is the more impactive for the victim, and through this the assault occurs. 2. Integration Phase The victims will then try to integrate the experience into their lives, which will never be the same again. They may change their appearance and behaviour; teenagers may become more promiscuous and dress suggestively because they feel undervalued. On the other hand, they may take the opposite road and try to look homely in order to prevent future cases. Again there is no stereotype. 3. Resolution Phase In this final phase, the victim comes to understand that the offence has occurred, and he or she has to see life in a different perspective. There is a sense of moving on. However, there is no doubt that everything in the victim's life will be affected in one way or another; sex life, relationships, emotions. Things like occupations, homes, and telephones may be changed. Yet each victim is an individual, and they have to be dealt with as such. In the case of children, they have all the above to cope with, and more. They are as yet unable to cope with adults at the same level. The need to communicate with them, to get through to them, is a difficult and sensitive process, and requires highly skilled people. They may need to interpret eyes and expressions; they may need tools; pen, paper. A study of children's behaviour shows five different phases known as the Accommodation Syndrome: - Secrecy: Children don't report offences, and often the crime won't come to light until a long time after the offence. In some cases it has been 20 years before they finally had the confidence to come forward. The reason for this is also because abusers often find a way to make sure the offence is kept a secret, through threats to kill, hurt, not to get sweets, or that they will be taken away if the child tells (in cases where the abuser is someone close, like a relative). - Helplessness: The child feels he is in a situation where he can do nothing about it. This is especially true when the abuser is someone known to them. - Entrapment: Sometimes the child does not know it is wrong, and it is just simply a topic you don't talk about. So he accommodates it into normalcy. - Delayed or unconvincing disclosure: There comes a point when the child realises it is wrong, and a small piece of information is revealed to a close and trusted adult. This could be a teacher, mother, sister, friend, but usually not the police. This is a crucial point, and it is very important what that person does with the information. The person must show belief at that first disclosure, in order to lead to further disclosures. Sometimes, incorrect information is given by the child, in which case he is trying to test what you are going to do with that information first. - Retraction: This is usually a reaction to the first disclosure when that is not believed. In most cases, abusers are trusted adults, so it is not unusual that the adult is in denial of what he has been told by the child. A mother might not believe her daughter if she says she has been raped by her own father. "In the 15 years we have been dealing with child abuse in my country we've found that the victims have more ability to come and tell us. They feel more confident to come and report the matter. This is due to the support system that surrounds the child. The police are only investigators first and foremost, so they have to work with other agencies. They have to learn how to interview children at their level, while the social welfare agencies and NGOs have network support to deal with the rehabilitation of the child after they have made their disclosure."Her typical day? That doesn't exist in her vocabulary. "Like today," she laughs, referring to the computer hitch that required a sudden change in schedule. "I make plans and people change it. You've got to be flexible. I never know what any day's going to bring. Each day changes; and that's what I like about it. "I work in plain clothes. My days are 9 to 5, with weekends off, because we reflect the working hours of the other agencies we work closely with. "I go in to work at about 7:30 or 8 a.m. and see what reports have come in the night before, and assign appropriate members of my team to deal with each case. "The role of the police is to deal with the offender. We deal with the victim from the point of view of gathering evidence, not in the rehabilitation of the child. But we work closely with relevant agencies in passing on information, and planning the approach to the victim so there is a smooth transition between the investigation and rehabilitation process. "After assigning work, I will meet with my level of management with other agencies. Cross-agency case meetings are necessary to determine the direction needed: protection, rehabilitation, whether they should be returned home or taken into a care system, or whether they simply require counselling."Interviewing techniques therefore become the heart of the procedure. The interviewer has to be aware of the various psychological states the victim could be in, and be able to gain the child's confidence (see Sidebar 1). But even asking the most basic questions is not as simple as it seems. How do you structure a question to get the most information from that one question? How do you ask a question without giving an answer at the same time? That is a common mistake people make when they want to formulate a quick conclusion based on their own premises. Considering that the participants of the five-day course will have to learn these interviewing skills, plus a host of other topics such as investigative techniques, victim care, and multi-agency networking, how much ground can they really cover?"We were given a week," said Detective Sergeant Hogg, with an almost audible sigh of resignation. "It's not enough, but it's better than no training at all. In the UK I would do a week on interviewing techniques alone."Over the past two years, the Royal Thai Police have been putting strong emphasis on this line of investigation, with the establishment of the Centre for the Protection of Children, Youth and Women in 1998. The centre works at the policy level, advocating for greater awareness amongst related agencies, and pushing for legislation and regulations in crimes involving women and juveniles. It also supports the kind of network indicated by Detective Sergeant Hogg that is needed to complete the rehabilitation cycle of the victim. This is a totally new concept of crime management in Thailand," said Pol Col Apichet Charani, Deputy Commander, Patrol and Special Operations Division, Royal Thai Police. As secretary of the newly created centre, he is aware of how the Thai authorities are having to re-educate themselves. "Previously, crime management was based only on the criminal code. Our objective was to bring the criminal to justice. There was no psychology concern involved. That seemed to be the eastern way of doing things. "It was the West who introduced the concept that victims needed attention and rehabilitation, too. It is on this premise that we are now working. That is why training sessions like the UK/Thai Child Protection Training programme are necessary. Firstly, it is a form of technology transfer between countries, which helps to improve and develop our own procedures. Secondly, it allows for an exchange of experience between people working at various levels on the same issues. "Finally, the issue of children, women, and abuse within the family is a relatively new issue in Thailand. But it is something that is timely, in keeping with the emphasis on human rights that is now being highlighted in society."One of the major milestones in this area is the new legislation-the Revised Child-Friendly Procedures in Court, which is set to be effective on September 15, 2000 (See Sidebar 2). In preparation for this, the Royal Thai Police have already set up the necessary facilities and equipment-interview room, audio-visual equipment, paperwork, establishment of standard procedures, and in-house training for related personnel. "I can safely say that Thailand is far ahead of most countries in the region on this issue," said Pol Col Apichet. From her experience in child abuse cases in the UK, and her contacts with Thai counterparts, Detective Sergeant Hogg maintains that the cases in the two countries are no different, though the scale is perhaps bigger in Thailand, partly due to the level of poverty, the number of migrant children, and a lack of networking or support by other agencies. "Lack of resources has been identified as a barrier," she added. "But there are ways of networking and using resources of other agencies to deal with this problem, and that's also what we're discussing in this course."Inter-agency networks are not only necessary to locate funding, and deal with cross-national crime, but also in sourcing and exchanging of news and information on laws and policies. The recent launch of the Asem Web site in January of this year required international cooperation in a new area, as indicated by UK Foreign Office Minister John Battle: "It has brought together 26 members from across Asia and Europe to work on practical steps to protect children from commercial sexual exploitation; and added a new dimension to the Asia-Europe relationship."The site can be accessed at www.asem.org. Though the UK/Thai Child Protection training programme will be wound up this year, further cooperation has already been initiated, namely, a practical training programme for judges to be conducted between the British Council and the Central Juvenile and Family Court, Ministry of Justice. Thailand's justice system is well and truly on its way to becoming child-friendly. Revised child-friendly procedure in court On September 15, 2000, the Revised Child-Friendly Procedure in Court Act will become effective. This is a giant step in Thailand's justice system which has formerly placed emphasis on the criminal code, and bringing criminals to justice. Trauma has been overlooked, and in many cases this has led to further social problems which the individual has been left to deal with on his own. According to Wanchai Roujanavong, a senior expert state attorney at the Office of the Attorney General, this is most important in cases dealing with children. He explains the significance of the new law. "In crimes where children are involved, it has always been difficult for children to give an account in court or during the investigative procedures. In principle, trained personnel should be present when police make their arrests, such as social welfare staff or in difficult cases, child psychologists, and if possible, someone the child trusts, and finally, an attorney general to provide a multi-disciplinary team. Only doctors are exempted from this procedure. "To prevent the child from having to repeat himself, the investigation will be recorded on video, which will then be used in court. When identifying the criminal, the accused should not be able to see the child who is making the identification. "In court, the child will be in a separate room. The courtroom is a threatening environment; it has been designed to intimidate adults, so they won't dare lie. But with children it creates the opposite reaction, and it simply makes them reluctant to talk because they are scared. And confronting the accused is a very stressful situation to be in. So the child should be put in a separate room, with a closed-circuit television to bring the child into the courtroom. The child sees only his interviewer, while the entire courtroom can see the child on the screen. That relieves his stress, and encourages him to speak out. To prevent repetition again, the video will be replayed first, and questions can be asked on additional points. "When lengthy court procedures could result in the disappearance of the child, such as in the case of street children, the child should be questioned as soon as possible-within the first week. For children who have been accused of committing a crime, similar procedures should be applied. But most significantly, a lawyer will be appointed to speak on his behalf from the moment he is arrested, rather than only when he is due in court."		Daily Main Entrance Page Local News Business Outlook Weekly IT news Horizons Travel NiteOwl (Trink) Real.Time Motoring Student Weekly Entertainment & Lifestyle Poet's Post What's on Dining out Recipe of the week Movies Music Book Review Beauty Fitness Nutrition NEW! Words in the News Travel Thailand & beyond Special Publications Current Issues in Thailand Silpa Thai site Bangkok Post Year-end Economic Review Post Database 10 years Annual Report Education Learn English with the Bangkok Post Society We Care Phudhong Leper Colony Foundation Bangkok Post Newspaper Foundation Past Issues Calendar Page for recent issues Bangkok Post Archives by Samart Classifieds Classifieds index Jobs Property Entertainment Investment Education Travel Sales Bookstore Post Books Company Services Contact Us Subscriptions Internet Advertising Classified Ads Allied Printers
© Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2000 Last Modified: Tue, Apr 18, 2000 For comments and letters to the editor see : notes Comments to: Webmaster Advertisng enquiries to Internet Marketing