Responding to child sexual abuse: the need for a balanced approach

This article suggests a number of improvements in the reporting and investigation of child sexual abuse cases. The article begins with a reminder that our eagerness to protect children cannot be allowed to overcome our nation's commitment to fairness and due process. For both the alleged perpetrator and the child victim, much is at stake in these cases, and our system must strike a balance to protect the rights of both. Currently there is a problem with both underreporting of suspicions of child abuse and overreporting of cases that are unfounded or cannot be substantiated. Several recommendations are made to make reporting more accurate. These include: clarify reporting laws, expand and improve training for reporters, develop agency policies regarding reporting, modify liability and immunity rules, improve efforts at screening reports, and provide feedback to reporters. Finally, the article discusses the importance of interviewing children and offers some techniques for doing so properly. Issues of interpreting physical and behavioral signs of abuse are also discussed, and the importance of accurate record keeping is emphasized.