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Success Story
Colombia’s minors now
have interpreters to
protect their rights
Improving Justice for Minors in Colombia
Photo: Photo: Asociación Creemos en Ti
The average time between reporting an
offense and its adjudication has been
reduced from seven to two months.
The successes of this USAID
supported project range
from providing reparation for
child sexual abuse victims to
protection of their rights.
USAID is increasing access to justice for Colombian children
who are victims of sexual and other abuse through its support to
Creemos en Ti or the “We Believe in You” Foundation and Bienestar
Familiar, the Colombian Government’s Family Protection Agency.
Prosecuting cases where minors are involved, whether as victims
or as witnesses, has been a major problem for the Colombian
justice system. Until recently, children were being interviewed
by prosecutors and testifying before judges who had no training
in dealing with their particular emotional needs. Moreover,
psychologists were not routinely made available to provide pre-trial
assessments of emotional harm, assist in the investigations, or help
children deal with the stress of testifying. In addition, no one in the
legal process was specifically charged with protecting the rights of
the child.
Working with our partners, USAID developed a program designed
to provide legal and psychological support to child victims of sexual
and other abuse. The USAID program has focused on ensuring that
cases involving children are processed expeditiously, that they are
handled according to a more sensitive and protective protocol and
that trained professionals are available to assist children. Lawyers
and psychologists are also receiving training in how to represent
and protect children, whether they appear as victims or witnesses.
Psychologists trained with USAID’s support have worked
with minors in 110 sexual abuse cases and 130 cases where
minors were witnesses. Since USAID became involved, Bogotá
prosecutors report the average time from initial report of the crime
to resolution of the case has been reduced from seven to two
months and the prosecution rate has increased from 50% to 70%.
Thanks to USAID support, child victims are more adequately
represented and protected during legal proceedings, and parents
have more trust in the system. As a consequence, more cases of
abuse are being reported, and there are fewer instances where
the understandable fright and confusion of the child victim help the
perpetrators to escape prosecution. Another result of this program
is that Bienestar Familiar has decided to fund Creemos en Ti to
continue its work beyond the USAID grant.
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