Understanding the Hidden Trauma of Child Witnesses in the Justice System

Vidya Reddy & Sannuthi SureshWhether a victim or a witness to violence, an adult, let alone a child, barely has the wherewithal to navigate or understand the labyrinth that the justice delivery systems pose.

The alienness of engaging with the justice system prompted one young witness to ask why everyone was in “fancy dress as penguins”.

Systemically geared to cater to adults, these systems often appear confusingly convoluted, with an even greater toll on children, given their distinct developmental vulnerabilities, resulting in secondary victimisation and further trauma.

While due consideration has been given to the procedures of engagement with child victims in recent child-related laws, children not directly involved as victims but witnesses to crime and violence — interpersonal, sexual, domestic, communal, and even parental discord, remain outside their scope, rendering these child witnesses as “invisible victims”.

Even more so if they have a disability. In 2011, police in a small town were stumped while investigating the case of a four-year-old girl who had been sexually assaulted and murdered. After a thorough investigation, the needle of suspicion pointed to a pre-teen neighbour. But how does one interrogate a child for a gruesome crime, who also happened to help with the search? Police then worked with the 13-year-old elder brother of the alleged minor offender — briefed him on questions to ask, wired him and listened in on the conversation between the brothers through a recording machine placed outside the room.

The anxiety, fear, and shame of the older brother can hardly be comprehended fully, even if an explanation were attempted. In cases of incest, the situation becomes more complicated, with the sibling of the affected victim being questioned and cited as a witness. Besides grappling with the complexities of disbelief, worry, betrayal, feelings of guilt, helplessness, bottled rage and shame for not being able to protect their affected family members, they are torn between their loyalties and affection towards both the offending family member and the other distraught family members.

In 2021, the shocking case of a grandfather fathering a child with his 15-year-old granddaughter grabbed headlines. What was sadly missing in the consternation that followed was the impact on the younger brother being forced to stand by in silent helplessness for years as his grandfather persistently assaulted his sister. Children often become pawns and witnesses in vitriolic battles between warring parents as routinely seen in the in-camera proceedings and children’s rooms at family courts.

Besides being drip-fed nasty and malicious aspersions about the other parent, they are subject to tutoring to corroborate fabricated stories, as was seen in a recent case with Chennai police. Though not directly a victim, being made to feel complicit and encouraged to lie can alter a child’s understanding of the norms of interaction. Imagine a child caught in the middle of parental disputes where she is told to constantly spit when she sees her father during the court-ordered visiting rights days, otherwise she would go blind. Those who grow up in a home with violence between the two most dependable and trusted adults in their lives learn early and powerful lessons about the use of violence in interpersonal relationships to dominate others and might even be encouraged in doing so. Violence begets violence.In cases of institution-based abuse, such as schools, hostels, sports camps and health facilities, the listing of child witnesses by the stakeholders bound to respond by law assumes almost burlesque-like situations.

Entire groups of children are “interrogated” rather than interviewed till they “confess” to support or discard the primary complaints. Occasionally, instances of used sanitary pads being found in school compounds lead to entire classes being harangued in departmental inquiries.

This can go to the extent of the students being asked to lift their uniforms so it can be ascertained which children are menstruating. If this mass humiliation of children considered as witnesses is not damaging, then what is? Sometimes, in cases of peer-related interpersonal violence, which can range from bullying offline as well as online between individuals or rival groups whose affinity could be dictated by caste, a perceived intimate relationship, classmates or neighbourhood friends are called on to provide testimony, bear witness to actual incidents which attracted police intervention.

Competing loyalties and moral ambiguities often place these children in difficult positions, torn between self-preservation, protecting peers, honouring familial ties, and responding to the demands of authority.

There is a disparaging attitude towards child witnesses considered as collaborators and accomplices to the accused in crime. Like in the case of 10-year-old Arup, who was asked by the abuser to introduce him to other children, who then became victims.

He was treated in a manner reserved by the relevant authorities specifically for abusers and their associates — instead of seeing him also as a child victim, bribed and coerced into this situation with the `10 the abuser would give him each time.

He was clueless about the aftermath of the introductions made until he was cited as a witness and involved in multiple inquiries, including a visit to the scene of the crime and a test identification parade of the accused. Little or no thought is given when children are witnesses in crimes involving both children and adults as alleged offenders. The judicial system mandates evidence to be given twice over. This becomes all the more difficult as child-enabling features, which may be followed in courts as per legislations such as the Pocso Act, 2012, are not operationalised by the Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) during inquiry. In cases involving gang violence, child witnesses are faced with a phalanx of lawyers appearing for multiple accused persons. Without the safety and comfort of child witness deposition rooms, which are few and far between, these situations become especially daunting for child witnesses, including having to wait in the same area as the accused during hearings. Child witnesses being victimised are not limited to judicial systems, but also those appearing before child protection mechanisms as well. Countless are the cases of Child Welfare Committees (CWC), a critical operative under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) Act, 2015, causing distress and secondary victimisation to child witnesses summoned before them in relation to matters of abuse or neglect.

A system that is pervaded by such a scant regard for the realities of child witnesses leaves one wondering what, really, is its understanding of trauma. Disruption of routine, interruptions to schooling, and the stigma of being blamed for their entanglement with the justice system, whether it is the JJB, CWC, the trial or family courts, leaves many witnesses feeling alienated, overwhelmed, and retraumatised. Recent efforts to strengthen “rehabilitation” for these invisible victims are commendable.

However, the specific needs of child witnesses engaging with the criminal justice system remain starkly unaddressed. Globally, children who have witnessed others being harmed have been recognised as a special group that needs to be attended to only in the past 20 years. Safeguards and protections, mandatorily provided to child victims, must also be extended to child witnesses who are equally deserving due to the impact of the trauma they carry from having seen violence.

Supportive features and procedures for child witnesses need to be melded into the processes of investigation and trial. This includes ensuring that their rights are respected, their dignity upheld, and their participation facilitated with care.(The writers are part of Tulir — Centre for the prevention & healing of Child Sexual Abuse)Email your feedback with name and address to [email protected]