The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has released a new research report aimed at gathering contemporary psychological scientific research evidence that police, lawyers and juries should be aware of when responding to victims of child sexual abuse. The research report,Empirical Guidance on the Effects of Child Sexual Abuse on Memory and Complainants’ Evidence, finds that lay beliefs about memory, frequently held by police, lawyers, judges and juries, do not correspond with available scientific knowledge about memory. The report examined ten areas where legal expectations seem at odds with victims’ memory capabilities: (1) misconceptions about memory; (2) victims’ ability to provide details and core memories of events; (3) inconsistencies in memory and reminiscence; (4) the reliability of child victims’ memory; (5) suggestibility and false memories; (6) the impact of delay on memory recall; (7) memory for traumatic events; (8) victims’ memory for persistent sexual abuse offences; (9) children’s memory during cross-examination and (10) educative interventions about memory. Read the report here.
