Varela explained that in cases involving minors, the most common assessment is for sexual abuse and mistreatment, compared to assessments performed on adults that are mostly for personal injury.
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“Comparing all assessments for sex crimes conducted in 2020, between adult and child population, which were 3 thousand 12 cases, 2 thousand 587 were to minors, which corresponds to 86% of evaluations carried out“, Indicated Varela.
The provinces where juvenile assessments are most conducted are Panama, West Panama, Chiriquí, Veraguas, Mouths of the Bull. “One in five children evaluated corresponds to the province of Panama, just as one in five corresponds to the province of Chiriquí,” he said.
The specialist stated that the cases are dealt with immediately, once the authority so requests, that is to say that the expertise comes out immediately, on the contrary, when evidence is collected that requires forensic analysis it takes a little longer to come out. the result of the tests.
Varela noted that at the national level there are only 87 experts from the Subdirectorate of Forensic Medicine related to assessments of underage victims.
Psychological impact
the forensic psychologist David Frías, said sexual abuse and mistreatment in children causes psychic damage that can last into adulthood. The most common signs that children have are disorders of emotions, low self-esteem, stress, anxiety and self-injurious behavior, so it is important that the psychologist who performs the intervention on the child does so professionally to see the traumatic events has generated the conduct.
Fredes states that hostels should be temporary places where children receive support from professionals, which allows them to reintegrate into their family or society, but unfortunately children are institutionalized in the hostel and this also has an impact on mental health.
“The most appropriate thing is for the hostels to be places that offer the child the tools to be able to reintegrate into his family, in the same way that he gives the tools to the family. However, what we see is that as a result of the processes that last a long time keep the child for a long time and this has an impact on the psychology of the child, ”he explained coldly.
Nationally there are only 25 forensic psychologists that last year they had to deal with 1,664 cases of sexual crime and 350 cases of child abuse, which represents a high demand.
budget
Vora Varela noted that for this year they had applied for $ 50 million, but they were granted $ 48 million, of which $ 1.5 million has been cut, but the needs are many, not only the hiring of suitable experts, but the infrastructure needs to be modernized.
“Panama’s judicial morgue is obsolete, is falling apart and it is necessary to build a new judicial morgue consonant today, consonant with modern requirements and accreditations. We are an institution that requires accrediting processes, laboratories, sections and experts so resources are needed to respond to justice, ”he expressed.
Varela concluded by saying that while they affect the investigation stage when these cases go to trial, they also have a social task of presenting statistics, because public policies can be taken, security, education and service delivery can be improved. health, that is, it also affects the prevention of crime.