Suwon City Operates Gyeonggi-do's First 'System to Minimize Duplicate Statements in Child Abuse Investigations'

Suwon City will be the first in Gyeonggi Province to operate the 'System to Minimize Duplicate Statements in Child Abuse Investigations' starting February 1.

The city of Suwon in Gyeonggi Province will operate the ‘Child Abuse Investigation Duplicate Testimony Minimization System’ from the 1st at all police stations in the jurisdiction to prevent secondary damage to abused children caused by repeated testimonies.

Previously, since July last year, Suwon had piloted the ‘Child Abuse Investigation Duplicate Testimony Minimization System’ targeting child abuse cases occurring in the jurisdiction of the Suwon Western Police Station.

After addressing issues discovered during the pilot project, Suwon expanded the system to the Suwon Southern, Central, and Western Police Stations.

The Child Abuse Investigation Duplicate Testimony Minimization System aims to prevent the suffering experienced by abused children who have to repeatedly testify at multiple investigative agencies.

Previously, when an incident occurred, police would respond on-site during code 0 to 4 stages, specifically at code 0 (highest emergency level) and code 1, and the Suwon Child Protection Team would respond if child separation was necessary or if the scene was a group living facility upon police request for accompaniment.

However, after the introduction of the duplicate testimony minimization system, the Child Protection Team accompanies the police investigation team when they respond to suspected child abuse cases on-site.

The method of separate investigations of abused children by the police investigation team and the Child Protection Team also changes.

To prevent repeated testimonies not only from the victimized child but also from the reported party (suspected abuser), a dedicated official visits the police station to investigate together with the investigation team during police questioning. The Child Protection Team investigates the stakeholders at their homes or at the Suwon Child Abuse Joint Response Center.

A Suwon city official stated, "The Child Abuse Investigation Duplicate Testimony Minimization System is expected to reduce the possibility of secondary damage to abused children," and added, "We will closely cooperate and share information with police stations in the jurisdiction to ensure the system is established early."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.