Abuso sexual infantil: preparados, senhores bacháreis?

Abstract

Human rights and health issues are directly interconnected when dealing with the sexual abuse of children. As a result, a truly interdisciplinary approach is required to deal with this issue. Child sexual abuse is a complex phenomenon and calls for a multi-approach education for legal professionals to prevent additional harm to the victim and her family. The multidisciplinary interaction of the professionals involved with the protection of the child victim of sexual abuse is essential to the effectiveness of reducing harm, interrupting the cycle of violence, rebuilding family ties and to preventing the re-victimization of the child. It begins with the assumption that the curriculum offered by Institutions of Higher Learning (acronym IES in Portuguese) in law schools in the state of Bahia do not have the interdisciplinary nature necessary for the education of future legal professionals to deal with issues related to the full protection of the child victim of intrafamilial sexual abuse. This research issue is based on the following question: how does legal education promote the education of the legal professional from an interdisciplinary perspective of the full protection of the child victim of intrafamilial sexual abuse? The overall objective of the study is to analyze legal education from an interdisciplinary perspective to guarantee the full protection of the child victim of intrafamilial sexual abuse. The specific objectives are: a) to analyze intrafamilial sexual abuse and its subjective implications regarding the victim and family; b) to discuss Brazilian legal education from an interdisciplinary perspective and its impact on the full protection of the child victim of intrafamilial sexual abuse. A qualitative approach was taken and the research is associated with historical materialism and dialectical materialism. This includes a literature review, legislative review, and field research with semi-structured surveys of legal professionals practicing in the area of child protection. Data analysis was performed using the hermaneutic-dialectic model. Results showed that the current legal education model does not promote a humane education that focuses on social questions. The importance of interdisciplinarity in legal education is highlighted, an education which currently focuses on the letter of the law. In order to deal with intrafamilial sexual abuse, the legal system needs ethical professionals who are capable of responding effectively to the challenges in these times of social change. To this end, the IES should provide its students with the opportunity to develop abilities, competencies and sensibilities that are aligned with the increasing dissemination of the idea of interdisciplinarity.