Dangers of Disbelieving Children

PURPOSE OF COURSE:

Child victims and witnesses of abuse are often not heard or believed after making disclosures of abuse. Our disbelief and failures to protect vulnerable children have a profound impact on their well-being. This course will provide officers with guidance on ways to recognize when this occurs and how to prevent further risks of harm to children. This course will also equip law enforcement with understanding both the responsibilities and liabilities we carry when faced with any failure in child protection.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Child victims and witnesses of abuse are often not heard or believed after making disclosures of abuse, and there are dangerous consequences when this occurs. The effects of disbelieving child victims not only have a profound impact on their mental health, but also on their well-being as disbelief places a child at risk of continued harm. This training will explore and discuss why many well-intended professionals may make decisions in their cases that are discriminatory against child victims. We will discuss a number of reasons children are ignored and why their disclosures are dismissed. We will also review ways to ethically advocate for a child when this manner is identified by those on your very own MDT. The discussion will include literature and case specific examples for clarity. We will include various topics such as ACES, mental health, ageism, perpetrator masking and studies that identify a lack of appropriate training which may contribute to this area of concern. When our roles are intended to be for the purpose of child-protection, we fail our child victims when we fail in their protection.