DISCLOSURES
No leading questions
- Mirror the child’s language. Don’t use words to describe what happened, who did it, or the location and nature of the harm unless the child uses them first. If they use “bottom” you use “bottom”. If they use “vagina”, then you use “vagina”.
- Focus on asking broad open ended and simple questions. A good rule of thumb is to use phrases like “How did that happen?” and “What happened after that?”
Tip No 5 - Do not ask leading questions
In the conversation leading up to the disclosure – it’s important that you don’t ask any leading questions. Leading questions are questions where you are inviting a particular answer or presuming what the answer will be.
Leading questions are often answerable by “yes” and “no” but can also include questions where you use body names or descriptions of what happened before the child has told you.
So to use our example, when Emily tells you about her sore bottom you don’t reply, “Who hurt your bottom?” or “What happened to your bottom?” because it’s possible that nobody hurt her bottom, and nothing happened to her bottom – it just got sore after she got an infection. You use her words and don’t presume anyone did anything. – and you say, “What’s wrong with your sore bottom?”
Then Emily said that Alex did it and he hurt her bottom so you use her words and ask, “How did Alex hurt your bottom?” You haven’t added in any words of your own, and you haven’t presumed anything when you ask that question. You don’t say, “Tell me what Alex did to your bottom” or “Did Alex touch your bottom? – and you definitely don’t say “Did Alex put his finger / penis in your bottom?”
It can often be hard to avoid leading questions – and if it’s any consolation sometimes even the most experienced interviewers slip up. But try practicing this technique when you’re talking with kids about ordinary things – not only will you learn a good habit but you’ll be amazed at how much more children will tell you when you avoid using leading questions.