UNCOVABUSE: Uncovering Child Sexual Abuse: Assessment of Life-time Prevalence and Development of Lithuanian version of Simulated Interview Software (EIT)

UNCOVABUSE project is dedicated to two very important aspects in child sexual abuse field. First, in Lithuania, up till now data on life-time prevalence of child sexual abuse is not available. This is important for understanding the magnitude of this problem and to make sure that all measures are taken to uncover child sexual abuse cases. Second, there is still a lack of qualified specialists that are able to detect CSA cases, protect the interest of children and adolescents and help to apply a new Child Rights Protection System. Considering this, there is a need for a training program that will enable practitioners working with young children to detect child sexual abuse cases and to ensure help and safety for the sexually abused child.

UNCOVABUSE aim is twofold: (1) To estimate the life-time prevalence of child sexual abuse (CSA) in Lithuanian population, based on self-reports by adults (e.g., asking if they experienced sexual abuse before the age of 18) and (2) to develop and test Lithuanian version of Simulated Interview Software (EIT) for investigative interviews that will improve the training of professionals who interview children in alleged sexual abuse cases.

The main activities of the project are:

To explore the life-time prevalence of the CSA cases in Lithuania. This will be achieved by conducting a representative population survey on life-time prevalence experienced in childhood and adolescence (under 18 years old ) as reported by adults
To translate and adapt 16 avatar scripts of simulated interview software (EIT) into Lithuanian.
To gather the data on interviewers’ individual differences and other factors moderating the efficacy of training, using avatar based child forensic interview simulation (EIT).
To implement a pilot testing of the simulated interview software (EIT) Lithuanian version to evaluate the effectiveness of the training of the practitioners involved in evaluation of CSA cases.
To disseminate the research findings, maximizing the project’s impact through informing professionals, building public and professional knowledge and capacity, and influencing policy and further research. Effective dissemination of the project results will ensure that scholars, stakeholders, end-users, and policy-makers will be informed about the results of research and Simulated Interview Software (EIT) Lithuanian version application possibilities.

The final conference of the project will be held on August 29th (2023) from 9 AM at Mykolas Romeris University LAB, Didlaukio St. 55, 102 room.