The Kenyan Survivors of Sexual Violence Network: Preserving Memory Evidence with a Bespoke Mobile Application to Increase Access to Vital Services and Justice

Police interviews gather detailed information from witnesses about the perpetrator that is crucial for solving crimes. Research has established that interviewing witnesses immediately after the crime maintains memory accuracy over time. However, in some contexts, such as in conflict settings and low-income countries, witness interviews occur after long delays, which decreases survivors’ access to vital services and justice. We investigated whether an immediate interview via a mobile phone application (SV_CaseStudy Mobile Application, hereafter MobApp) developed by the Kenyan Survivors of Sexual Violence Network preserves people’s memory accuracy over time. Participants (N = 90) viewed a mock burglary and were then interviewed either immediately using MobApp or MobApp+ (which included additional questions about the offender’s behaviour) and again one week later (n = 60), or solely after a one-week delay (n = 30). We found that memory accuracy one week later was higher for participants immediately interviewed with MobApp or MobApp+ compared to those interviewed solely after a one-week delay. Additionally, memory accuracy was maintained for those interviewed with the mobile application across the one-week period. These findings indicate that the mobile phone application is promising for preserving memory accuracy in contexts where crimes are reported to the police after a delay

A Systematic Review of Criminal Justice Initiatives to Strengthen the Criminal Investigation and Prosecution of Sexual Violence in East Africa.

Sexual violence (SV) is a widespread public health and human rights problem, with countries in East Africa having higher rates than the global average. Prosecutions of SV in East Africa are rare, and survivors face many challenges accessing medico-legal justice and services. Developing initiatives that support survivors in navigating the criminal justice system is vital, yet there is limited research on efforts to improve the criminal justice system's management and treatment of survivors. We conducted a scoping review of research on initiatives to strengthen responses toward investigating and prosecuting cases. We identified 25 academic articles and reports through a search of electronic databases and gray literature that address these initiatives in East Africa. The results reveal that seven types of initiatives have been studied: one-stop centers (OSCs), multisectoral referral networks, gender desks, community interventions, mobile applications, and specialized police and prosecution units. Upon review, we found that barriers to success include a lack of resources and facilities, a lack of trained health care, police, and judicial personnel to perform services, weak medico-legal partnerships, and stigma and impunity restricting the uptake and fair distribution of services. Overall, limited systematic evidence on the effectiveness and adaptability of initiatives exists, showing that SV interventions in East Africa remain an under-researched and under-resourced area, and need greater scientific rigor to inform practice and coordinated advocacy. This review is a call to action for policy makers and service providers working in East Africa-and for international bodies working toward achieving Sustainable Development Goals 5-to improve criminal justice initiatives

Urgent issues and prospects at the intersection of culture, memory, and witness interviews: Exploring the challenges for research and practice

Funder: UK Home Office and security and intelligence agenciesFunder: KU Leuven; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004040Funder: FWO Research ProjectAbstract: The pursuit of justice increasingly relies on productive interactions between witnesses and investigators from diverse cultural backgrounds during investigative interviews. To date, the role of cultural context has largely been ignored by researchers in the field of investigative interviewing, despite repeated requests from practitioners and policymakers for evidence‐based guidance for the conduct of interviews with people from different cultures. Through examining cultural differences in human memory and communication and considering specific contextual challenges for investigative interviewing through the lens of culture, this review and associated commentaries highlight the scope for considering culture and human diversity in research on, and the practice of, investigative interviewing with victims, witnesses, and other sources. Across 11 commentaries, contributors highlight the importance of considering the role of culture in different investigative interviewing practices (e.g., rapport building, questioning techniques) and contexts (e.g., gender‐based violence, asylum seeking, child abuse), address common areas of cultural mismatch between interviewer–interviewee expectations, and identify critical future routes for research. We call for an increased focus in the investigative interviewing literature on the nature and needs of our global community and encourage constructive and collaborative discussion between researchers and practitioners from around the world to better identify specific challenges and work together towards evidence‐based solutions

Urgent issues and prospects at the intersection of culture, memory, and witness interviews: Exploring the challenges for research and practice

The pursuit of justice increasingly relies on productive interactions between witnesses and investigators from diverse cultural backgrounds during investigative interviews. To date, the role of cultural context has largely been ignored by researchers in the field of investigative interviewing, despite repeated requests from practitioners and policymakers for evidence-based guidance for the conduct of interviews with people from different cultures. Through examining cultural differences in human memory and communication and considering specific contextual challenges for investigative interviewing through the lens of culture, this review and associated commentaries highlight the scope for considering culture and human diversity in research on, and the practice of, investigative interviewing with victims, witnesses, and other sources. Across 11 commentaries, contributors highlight the importance of considering the role of culture in different investigative interviewing practices (e.g., rapport building, questioning techniques) and contexts (e.g., gender-based violence, asylum seeking, child abuse), address common areas of cultural mismatch between interviewer–interviewee expectations, and identify critical future routes for research. We call for an increased focus in the investigative interviewing literature on the nature and needs of our global community and encourage constructive and collaborative discussion between researchers and practitioners from around the world to better identify specific challenges and work together towards evidence-based solutions