Torture can affect a child directly or indirectly. The impact can be due to the child having been tortured or detained, the torture of his/her parents or close family member or the witnessing of torture and violence. When individuals in a child’s environment are tortured, the torture will inevitably have an impact on the child, albeit indirectly, because torture affects the entire family and community of torture victims. A thorough discussion of the psychological impact of torture on children and complete guidelines for conducting an evaluation of a child who has been tortured is beyond the scope of this Manual. Nevertheless, several important points can be summarised.
First, when evaluating a child who is suspected of having undergone or witnessed torture, the clinician must make sure that the child receives support from caring individuals and that he/she feels secure during the evaluation. This may require a parent or trusted care provider to be present during the evaluation. Second, the clinician must keep in mind that children often do not express their thoughts and emotions regarding trauma verbally, but rather behaviourally. The degree to which a child is able to verbalize thought and affect depends on his/her age and developmental level as well as on other factors, such as family dynamics, personality characteristics and cultural norms.
If a child has been physically or sexually assaulted, it is important, if at all possible, for the child to be seen by an expert in child abuse. Genital examination of children, likely to be experienced as traumatic, should be performed by clinicians experienced in interpreting the findings. Sometimes it is appropriate to videotape the examination so that other experts can give opinions on the physical findings without the child having to be examined again. It may not be appropriate to perform a full genital or anal examination without a general anaesthetic. Furthermore, the examiner should be aware that the examination itself may be reminiscent of the assault, and it is possible that the child may make a spontaneous outcry or psychologically decompensate during the examination.