Listen carefully to children when abuse is suspected
In the media
A new bill from Dutch political party D66 aims to strengthen the position of children when child abuse is suspected. Speaking to ‘EenVandaag’, Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Children and the Law, said: ‘The child’s voice is not taken seriously enough.’
The legislation proposed by D66, known as the ‘child‑first act’, aims to ensure that children are listened to more carefully and that parental consent is no longer required to launch an investigation. The interest and safety of the child would then take precedence in cases of suspected child abuse. The proposal was prompted by two recent cases in the Netherlands in which children were severely abused.
At the moment, it is not clearly stated in the law that the national reporting centre for domestic violence and child abuse Veilig Thuis can speak to a child without the parents’ consent. ‘That can't be right,’ Bruning says. ‘If a report has been made of suspected child abuse, and certainly when the child in question has spoken about it, then surely you should be able to speak to that child. That shouldn’t depend on getting permission from the parents.’
According to the professor, the issue is about more than simply hearing children. ‘The problem exists across all organisations in the child‑protection chain,’ Bruning says. ‘Listening to the child’s voice is the responsibility of each of these organisations.’ Recent cases involving child abuse showed that children do speak up, but that the response to their signals is insufficient. The proposed legislation is therefore an important step in the right direction, the professor adds: ‘Serious incidents repeatedly show that the child’s voice is not taken seriously enough.’
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Read the full article in EenVandaag
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(All in Dutch)