The Bar Human Rights Committee and the National FGM Centre have today launched a training video on interviewing child witnesses at the National FGM Centre’s conference on harmful practices and the quest towards gender equality to mark International Women’s Day 2020.
The video outlines best practices for interviewing a child who has suffered physical and mental trauma through witchcraft stigmatisation, using a case study from BHRC’s Child Rights Training manuals to highlight how to achieve effective results and avoid common mistakes in interviewing children, particularly children who may have suffered trauma. The video is the second video produced as part of a long-standing project between BHRC and UNICEF on training in child rights in Nigeria.
The scenario is that a young boy has been physically abused as a result of being stigmatised as a witch by his church community. He is being interviewed after he has been brought into a children centre in Nigeria.
The video has been produced in partnership with the National FGM Centre and is being used as part of a newly launched e-learning tool by the National FGM Centre on interviewing child witnesses for those working with children, including social workers, police, law, students, lawyers and prosecutors.
Kirsty Brimelow QC, former Chair of BHRC, launched the video at the National FGM conference.
