The story of a girl who survived abuse

(Names changed to protect identities)
When 14-year-old Yasmina was returning home from visiting her aunt, she caught a passing car on the street. There were two men and a woman in the car who agreed to drop her on the way. She felt safe as she was not the only female in the car.

Suddenly, the girl got off and the driver continued his way. Yasmina got scared and asked them to stop. They ignored her and dropped her off at a dark, empty, and dusty place looking like a construction site. The driver said that he needs to fix the car and asked his friend to wait outside with Yasmina.

“His name was Bakhrom. He offered me a soda, I drank it and soon after I fell asleep. I do not remember what happened afterward, but when I woke up, I was in pain and there was blood around. I was horrified. I didn't know how to go home and face my family”. 

Bakhrom threatened Yasmina with intimate photos, which he made while she was unconscious, and demanded money. Then he locked her in his room. Her father got worried and reported her missing to the police. Yasmina was found ten days later. Her martyrdom however did not end.

“I was interviewed many times during the investigation and at the court. Everyone talked to me rudely as if it was my fault”. 

Yasmina was questioned in a small room with an open door without any confidentiality and Bakhrom was sitting next to her with his two lawyers.

"I felt very uncomfortable answering questions next to him. I went through over 20 court hearings over a year and after each, I needed a week to psychologically rehabilitate”.

Professionals did not treat and question her in a child-friendly way. She said that the lawyers were constantly pressuring her without caring about her feelings. 

“I wish I had a person whom I could trust accompanying me throughout this process and to calm me down. But instead, there was a teacher who always intervened in the words I said, dragging out the process and making it more complicated. I thought this would never end”. 

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The lawyers of the NGO Istiqbolli Avlod have been providing Yasmina with psychological and legal aid. After a year of constant court hearings, she won the case, and the perpetrator was placed in jail for two and a half years. Hard days have already passed and now Yasmina is preparing to enter the university and in her spare time, she does floristry.

According to international standards, criminal justice systems should be child oriented. They should consider the age, maturity level, needs, and vulnerabilities of child victims and witnesses of crime, who take part in the interview. A special approach and conditions can help children to overcome issues faced in the criminal justice system. 

UNICEF helped the Government of Uzbekistan to establish specialized child-friendly interview rooms. Such rooms provide opportunities for child victims and witnesses of crimes to be interviewed in child-friendly environment and out of the contact from a perpetrator. The rooms are provided with special audio and video equipment that helps to record a child’s evidence to protect children from repeated interviews. Today specialized child-friendly interview rooms are available at regional and district departments of internal affairs across the country. 

UNICEF is globally advocating for the establishment of child-oriented justice systems, and in Uzbekistan supporting the Government in strengthening relevant laws and regulations, and in making justice proceedings more child-friendly through capacity-building of the police, judiciary, and social workers.