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Basic Police training should focus on child abuse and duty towards JMOs

21 Nov 2021

  • Academics call for continuous programmes on awareness of medico-legal issues of child abuse 
By Ruwan Laknath Jayakody  The topic of child abuse should be emphasised in the basic training curriculum of Police officers, in particular with regard to the types and features of child abuse and their duty towards judicial medical officers (JMOs), academics specialising in forensic medicine noted. They also recommended conducting continuous education programmes or workshops concerning awareness of medico-legal issues pertaining to child abuse to Police officers who are frequently involved in the management of child abuse.  These suggestions were made in a research article on “Is knowledge on the medico-legal aspects of child abuse adequate among Police officers?”, which was authored by A.N. Vadysinghe, U.S.N. Ranmohottige, I.R. Weerakkody and R. Aluthgedara (all attached to the Peradeniya University’s Medical Faculty’s Forensic Medicine Department) and published in the Sri Lanka Journal of Forensic Medicine, Science and Law’s First Volume’s Second Issue in January 2011. Child abuse is defined by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention as child maltreatment, including any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or other caregiver that result in harm, potential for harm, or the threat of harm to a child. The four main types of abuse of children, per M. Nathanson’s “The physically and emotionally abused child” include physical abuse, neglect, sexual abuse, and emotional and psychological abuse. These four types may also coexist.  The physical abuse of children was identified as the battered child syndrome by C.H. Kempe, F.N. Silverman, B.F. Steele, W. Droegemueller and H.K. Silver. As J. McCann, A. Rosas and S. Boos noted in “Child and adolescent sexual assaults (Childhood sexual abuse)”, lawmakers have responded in different ways to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to justice. McCann et al. however elaborated that both the diagnosis and management of child abuse is difficult.  Therefore, B. Mitchels recommended in “Protecting children” and U.S. Werner and J.S. Daniel emphasised in “The abused child and adolescent medico-legal investigation of death”, the adoption of a multidisciplinary approach involving police officers, medical professionals, and legal professionals. Hence, Vadysinghe et al. explained that precise knowledge on the subject of child abuse among these personnel is essential, especially in the case of Police officers who play a vital role in the management of child abuse.  In Sri Lanka, it is the Police officer who handles interactions between the abused child, the JMO and the court, thus making it doubly important for Police officers to be thoroughly acquainted with the medico-legal aspects of child abuse. This is because as B. Knight and P. Saukko observed in “Fatal child abuse”, incidents of child abuse and neglect oft go undetected as Police officers or other first responders coming into contact with children do not identify injuries, conditions, or behaviours as suspicious, in turn resulting in no intervention being offered, thus leading to a 10% risk of an abused child having eventually fatal injuries.  Vadysinghe et al. have also noted the apparent lack of knowledge on the subject on the part of the Police and therefore conducted a study among Police officers in the Central Province with over 10 years of service, concerning essential medico-legal aspects of child abuse.  In this regard, they note that there are three major areas with reference to medico-legal aspects of child abuse that have been identified as areas concerning which Police officers need to have adequate awareness. These three areas include the legally accepted age limit for the definition of a child (zero to 18 years – since this is a key element in several offences concerning children), the types and features of child abuse (including awareness of physical and sexual abuse, and neglect, and how to look for evidence during an investigation into such a case), and on the duty of a Police officer (be thoroughly familiar with procedures including those with regard to obtaining statements, documentation, and collecting evidence) and their duty towards the JMO (be thoroughly familiar with procedures including those with regard to informing the relevant professionals who are involved in the management of child abuse to handle the process early and effectively).  For this purpose, they randomly selected a sample of 196 Police officers who were provided with a questionnaire on the said aspects. The majority were female (89), followed by male (60) while 47 were unmarked. The majority in terms of rank were Constables (61), followed by Sub Inspectors (32), Sergeants (26), Inspectors (22) and Chief Inspectors (eight).  Out of the total study sample of 196, the majority (75.5%) responded with the exact age limit to be known as a child while 24.5% were not aware of the correct age limit (the latter situation, according to Vadysinghe et al. is to be deemed a serious impediment). Out of the total study sample, the majority (95%) got less than 75% marks for knowledge on the types of child abuse while 59% had 50% and less marks for the same, and “remarkably” 7% got marks between zero to 25% concerning the same. Only 5% managed to get marks above 75% on the issue. Out of the total study sample, the majority (86%) got 75% and below marks for knowledge on the features of child abuse while 54% got 50% and less for the same, and 4% received zero marks on their knowledge on the issue. Out of the total study sample, the majority (31%) scored equal and less than 75% marks for knowledge on their duty as far as the management of child abuse is concerned, while 3% were 50% or less aware of their own duty, and 1% was 25% and less aware of their duty in handling child abuse. Out of the total study sample, the majority (74%) had 75% and below marks regarding their duty towards the JMO while 36% scored 50% and less for the same, and 1-2% got zero marks concerning the issue.  Vadysinghe et al. found that although over half of the study group had knowledge above 50% concerning all aspects of child abuse, over half had below 75% knowledge regarding the essential aspects of child abuse.  Discussing the results, Vadysinghe et al. reiterated that it is mandatory for the people who are involved in the management of child abuse to be thoroughly aware of the medico-legal aspects of child abuse to mete out justice and also because any deficiency in terms of knowledge may ultimately lead to injustice to both the assailant and the victim. 

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