Dags att ta strid för barnafrid? En analys av hur barnets intressen tillgodoses under en utredning om sexuellt övergrepp

Sammanfattning: The National Board of Health and Welfare has, on behalf of the govern-ment, investigated where to establish a national centre for knowledge about violence and other abuse of children with the aim to collect and pass on knowledge. The board has suggested that the centre should be located at Linköping University and be named Barnafrid. In the spring of 2015 the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child criticized Sweden for not ensuring that professionals who work with children have sufficient training in how to consider the best interest of the child when making decisions regarding the child. Investigations concerning sexual abuse of children are problematic both from a procedural point of view and from a child perspective. Penal sanctions have been aligned with specific regulations for sexual abuse of children. Investigations concerning children require skills of competence for the professionals involved in different parts of the investigation. The level of competence required is rarely specified, which makes it difficult to control how the requirements are met. Children are, to a large extent, protected from the legal process by not participating in the court. It entails high demands on the child’s ability to talk about abuse and to convey it in a way that corresponds to the standards of proof. Hence, the quality requirements are high, while the investigations also need to be conducted rapidly. At the structural level the main concern is that suspicions of abuse are likely not to be recognized to the extent that they possibly could be. At the individual level it is problematic that an investigation may be negatively affected due to the varying skills levels of the professionals who work with children. To raise the level of competence, improvement should primarily focus on further recognition of suspicion of abuse, by those who work with children in childcare and child healthcare. In addition, an increase in competence of the child interrogation leader can bring quality improvements throughout the investigation. For increased child specificity, a more individualized approach can be used consisting of customization for the specific child’s needs and circumstances. The best interests of the child are met to some extent in the conduct of investigations, adjustments to the needs of children has been made through the protection and management of children in criminal law. To make it possible for investigations to meet the child interest to a greater extent, there is a need of professional development and quality improvement measures. Suspicions of sexual abuse of children must be dealt with in a proper manner throughout the investigation process, but for a vulnerable child the most important thing is that someone raises suspicion of abuse and initiates an investigation. Changes are needed and they must be based on children’s possibilities and abilities to talk about sexual abuse.