By Dr Marilena Kyriakidou

Wednesday 3 January • Viewing time: 4 minutes

One in five children in Europe are victims of sexual abuse*. Fear and a lack of legal knowledge can often prevent them from appearing in court. Our researchers are empowering children to complete this process through a board game. 

In 2020, 49% of child sexual offences did not appear in court because the children felt unable to testify.

Understandably, most children find it incredibly difficult to talk about their experience. And if they do decide to do so, they face intense questioning in court.

This brings another distressing experience, where they’re faced with unfamiliar and intimidating legal language and procedures. As someone who moved to a new country at a young age, I’ve had a glimpse of how difficult it is to adapt to such an alien setting.

That’s where my research comes in. As a forensic psychologist, I’m passionate about finding ways to support children and vulnerable adults during investigative interviews.

Working with Hope for Children Cyprus and the University of Nicosia, I developed a board game to help children prepare for – and speak out – in court.

A gap in the system

We started our research in 2020, as part of a project exploring Covid-19’s impact on society and the justice system. This involved identifying the needs of practitioners preparing vulnerable victims for court.

When looking at child sexual assault cases in England, we discovered there were no child-friendly procedures in place. This left it up to practitioners to support children pre-trial. However, there was no tool to help them do this.

To find out more, we spoke to frontline practitioners and children about their needs. We then considered how other countries were currently preparing children for court, and how we could build on their approach.

Based on our findings, we worked with Design Futures to develop the Kids in Court board game.

How it works

The game is the key pretrial preparation process children receive for their court appearance. It has been implemented as part of the Barnahus Model applied by the Children's House in Cyprus. 

There are two versions of the game tailored for different age groups - one for 7-12 and one for 12-17 year-olds. Each version is made up of four mini games, including a maze, 3D courtroom tour, puzzle and role play activity.

These activities use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy techniques to help children understand court procedures and reduce anxiety. For example, the role play game introduces the key people who’ll be in court, how they’ll speak and the delays that might occur.

By giving children knowledge of what they’re about to face, it removes the fear of the unknown and helps build their confidence when testifying.

It was also important to us to make the game inclusive. With its emoji-style design without racial or gendered characteristics, all children can relate to the activities and feel like they belong.

Another strength lies in the game’s versatility. It can be easily adapted for different languages, cases and procedures, allowing for a better pre-trial experience for children across the globe.

Empowering victims

In 2022, the game was used in Cyprus as part of six children’s pre-trial preparation. Using this game with children showed a significant reduction in stress, demonstrating its ability to reduce trauma during proceedings.

The game also improved children’s legal knowledge, helping them better understand court procedures and vocabulary. This empowered them to be more confident witnesses, with one child feeling able to ask for clarification of a question in court.

It’s also benefited practitioners, allowing them to do their jobs more effectively. One practitioner said:

‘It is a structured, time effective and easy way for a practitioner to be able to deliver the required information to the child in a playful way, developed for their needs’.

Levelling up

In 2023, we won the Crystal Scales of Justice prize for our work on the game, beating 48 submissions from across Europe. This was an exciting moment that recognised our hard work and commitment. But what really drives us is helping as many children as possible.

Now, we’re implementing the game across Cyprus and working with Europol to bring it to Mexico, where there’s a strong need to support children pre-trial. Meetings are also underway with organisations in England with the hope of launching it here.

It’s my dream that by 2027 the Ministry of Justice will make our game mandatory for all children preparing for court. This would empower every child to feel prepared and confident to tackle a difficult experience - and help them get the justice they deserve.

* Human Rights Channel