| Resumo: | In child sexual abuse cases, specifically in cases of intra-familial sexual abuse, the testimony provided by minors is one of the most important means of proof, often, the only proof. It is crucial, therefore, to deepen the scientific knowledge regarding the way in which the testimony is or is not valued in the context of the judicial processes and its implications to the evolution of the process and decision making process. This study has as main goal to understand the relevance attributed to testimony provided by children victims of intrafamilial sexual abuse, and the eventual implications of that testimony. To achieve this purpose, we analysed the results of forensic sexology expertises and the reports on the forensic psychological evaluation expertises of the same cases of child intra-familial sexual abuse. We analysed the way in which the testimony was valued, and also the procedures relating to the forwarding of clinical cases for psychological evaluation, namely the criteria underlying the decision. The totality of the forensic sexology reports of victims of intra-familial child sexual abuse, between the ages of 3 and 12, that were examined at the Medical Clinic Department of the Institute of Legal Medicine of Porto, between 2002 and 2005 (n=134) were analyzed at the first moment of the study. At a second moment, we analyzed, in an in-depth study and analysis, those that were referred to the Centre for Research an Counselling of Victims and Offenders of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto for psychological assessment of the credibility of the testimony and of the traumatic impact of the abuse (n=40). Amongst the results obtained, we highlight those concerning the conclusions of the two kinds of expertise reports, major differences and complementarities on there results, and the implications of the child testimony to the judicial decision making. Particularly emphasized are the results concerning the value attributed to the child testimony on both contexts, mainly those concerning the significant percentage of children that, having produced narratives about the sexual abuse in the context of the forensic psychological evaluation, have presented strong indicators of the testimony veracity, over and above symptoms and other revealing indicators of the traumatic impact of the abusive situations. |
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