An Inquiry on Credibility Assessment of Child Victims of Sexual Abuse in Kenyan Courts
Abstract
Sexually abused children suffer trauma and may develop various coping mechanisms. While some
retreat and clearly display signs of trauma, others learn to hide the trauma by developing a “thick
skin.” The various coping mechanism are displayed in court when the child victim of sexual abuse
(CVSA) takes the witness stand in the quest for justice; this, compounded with the children’s
susceptibility to coaching and their evolving capacities to comprehend certain matters, may make
them seem as though they are weaving stories against the accused. The court is at task to assess the
child’s credibility given the seriousness of the allegation and the penalty that a conviction attracts.
Although Kenyan courts are given discretion to assess credibility of CVSAs, there are no guidelines
on how this is to be done. This leaves the interpretation of CVSA credibility to the subjective
standard of the trial court; this may compromise the best interest of the Child. Therefore, this Study
seeks to investigate the assessment of credibility of CVSAs by Kenyan courts with a view of
establishing how this is safeguarded within the legal framework. This is discussed in the context of
supporting best interests of CVSAs within their quest for justice.
The Study discusses the challenges a CVSA faces as a witness in his/her own case before their
testimony can be taken as credible. This is done by employing a qualitative approach to purposively
seek views on credibility assessment from magistrates handling CVSAs in different counties in
Kenya. The Study also explores the international legal framework that exists to uphold the best
interest of CVSAs during credibility assessment. This is further discussed within the Kenyan context
analysing how the constitution and other laws seek to protect and promote rights of CVSAs as
vulnerable members of the society.
The study reveals that the existing legal framework does not give Kenyan courts clear child-centred
guidelines for assessing credibility of CVSAs. The practise is that credibility is inter-changed with
competency test which often fails to take into account the evolving capacities of the child. From a
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child protection perspective, the study recommends the support to CVSAs during credibility
assessment by adoption of a standard evidence-based tool for questioning like the ten-step child
forensic interview. A multi-sectoral approach is also proposed to aid the court in assessing the
credibility of CVSA testimony.
Publisher
university of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- School of Law [291]
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