What really happens to children who testify about sexual abuse?
and what the research says we must do differently
This piece examines that evidence in three parts: what retraumatization in the courtroom looks like and what it costs; why it happens, from the neuroscience of traumatic memory to the structural features of adversarial legal proceedings; and what we already know how to do differently because the research that documents the problem also clearly points toward solutions.
The evidence is clear, but the real question is whether we are willing to act on it.