title: Documentation of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of children: A review of existing guidelines and tools.
abstract: The documentation of individual cases of child torture is of paramount importance to bring justice to, and help heal, individuals and sensitize societies. Our objective is to systematically review medical guidelines for the recording of individual cases of child torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CIDT). We searched CINAHL, Embase, the Guidelines International Network, Lilacs, Medline, the National Guideline Clearinghouse, PsychInfo and all websites of the organizations participating in the updating of the Istanbul Protocol for guidelines or studies on how to document torture, CIDT or abuse in persons under 18 years. We did not find a comprehensive guideline that encompassed all aspects of the documentation of child torture, as does the Istanbul Protocol for adults. An expert opinion guideline on how to document sexual torture in children was found, and in addition we identified 13 consensus-based guidelines for the evaluation of abuse in children or specific aspects thereof. We strongly recommend a child specific, comprehensive guideline on the documentation of torture and CIDT in children.
authors.affiliation: International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, P.O. Box 9049, 1022 Copenhagen K, Denmark. jdo@irct.org
authors.forename: Joost Jan
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: den Otter
authors.forename: Yolba
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Smit
authors.forename: Loreine B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: dela Cruz
authors.forename: Onder
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ozkalipci
authors.forename: Resmiye
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Oral
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse; D004282:Documentation / Q000592:standards*; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D014104:Torture