Interactive tools including anatomical dolls are currently being used to help support and understand victims of child abuse and assault as part of a new project launched by the Public Prosecution.
The ‘Safe Expression Box’ uses a baby anatomical doll and tools such as cards representing human senses, emotion stickers and a notebook to help affected children express their feelings in a way that is appropriate to their age and psychological and cognitive abilities.
One of the many challenges faced by investigators globally is for children to speak about their ordeal, and the dolls help the victims open up and point to and indicate where their abuser allegedly touched them without having to speak about their experience.
Public Prosecution’s Social Research department head Dr Dalal Al Atawi said the project was piloted with a sample of 10 girls during preparatory sessions and interviews accompanying the investigation procedures.
“Results have showed a positive response which helped the children identify body parts related to the incident more clearly and comfortably, compared to traditional methods,” said Dr Al Atawi in a statement.
Dr Al Atawi
“The innovation also contributed to reducing stress and anxiety levels among the children, while improving communication and comprehension of questions, which positively impacted the quality of obtained information.”
She added that additional information obtained from the child helps social workers and psychologists better understand the case and the condition of the victim.
“Overall, the project helped social workers and psychologists understand the children’s needs and feelings more accurately, build a professional relationship based on trust and security, and improve the quality of social and psychological assessments,” said Dr Al Atawi.
“It also provided additional indicators to help specialists interpret emotional and behavioural responses and understand such cases,” she added.
The ‘Safe Expression Box’ forms part of the Public Prosecution’s wider efforts to adopt child-centred practices and improve the support provided to child victims in line with international professional standards and the principle of the best interests of the child.
The GDN reported in January that the Family and Child Prosecution last year documented victims that included 373 children under the age of seven, 1,323 aged between seven and 15, and 470 between 15 and 18.
Bahrain has introduced new standards for questioning child sexual abuse victims – they should be interviewed only once to prevent them from having to repeat their story before police, prosecutors, judges and others.
A total of 131 children benefited from this rule last year – 76 boys and 55 girls.
Bahrain joined Interpol’s International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) database in 2024 as it stepped up efforts to combat online child exploitation, in line with the directives of Interior Minister General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa.
The database is designed to support experts working on cases involving the sexual and online exploitation of children.
According to Unicef, sexual violence against a child refers to any deliberate, unwanted and non-essential act of a sexual nature, either completed or attempted, that is perpetrated against a child, including for exploitative purposes, and that results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, pain or psychological suffering.
Globally, 650 million (or one in five) girls and women alive today have been subjected to sexual violence as children.
Among boys and men, between 410 and 530m (or around one in seven) experienced sexual violence in childhood.
Cases of child abuse, neglect or sexual assault can be reported by calling child helpline 998.
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