The Power of listening and specific approaches in the collection of testimonies from children and adolescents who were victims of violence were the theme of the fourth edition of the Cine Forum Rights View Project, which promoted the dialogue on “Children and the Justice System”, and it is in connection with the sensitization provoked by documentary H (Hear)? which debates the Special Testimony of Children and Adolescent Victims or Witnesses of Sexual Violence, and, for the shared and interdisciplinary construction of knowledge, counts on the participation of magistrates, psychologists, social workers, members of a center for the defense of the rights of the child, the academic community and specialist researchers linked to the PPGPJDH UFT / ESMAT.
The documentary, produced with its own funding, is the resulto f the PhD’s academic work by the director, Sílvia Ignez, who participated in the debate, addresses issues related to the collection of testimony from children victims of sexual violence. The purpose of the film is to discuss the methodology of the Special Testimony, in which the child is heard by an interdisciplinary team, and not in the courtroom environment by magistrates, prosecutors, defenders and sometimes, police authorities.
With the title of an adaptation from a phrase by the writer Oswald de Andrade “We write what we hear. Never what happened”, the 46-minute documentary is available on YouTube platform. Counting on interviews with psychologist magistrates and dramatizations of real incidents, the film discusses the new methods of listening to children and adolescents who are victims of sexual abuse, implemented by Law number 13,431, from April 4th, 2017.
Data from the State Secretariat of Public Security (SSP) of Tocantins indicate that until May this year, 1395 children and adolescents were victims of violence, according to police records. Of that number, 202 children were between 0 and 5 years old.
The virtual forum was coordinated by the magistrate Célia Regina Régis, master's student at PPGPJDH and the presence and participation of professor Silvia Ignez (producer of the documentary), professor and researcher Patrícia Medina, coordinator of the research group. They also participated in the discussions, as facilitators of the debate: Dr. Carlos Mendes Rosa, the magistrate of childhood and youth of Palmas Frederico Paiva Bandeira, the magistrate and graduate of PPGPJDH Hélvia Túlia Sandes Pedreira, the social worker and egress from PPGPJDH Márcia Mesquita Vieira and social worker Mônica Brito - CEDECA Glória de Ivone.
About the Cine Forum Rights View
The Cine Forum Rights View is an activity that integrates the EducaDH Extension Project, linked to the Education and Human Rights Research Group, of the Master’s Program in Jurisdictional Provision and Human Rights, at the Federal University of Tocantins (UFT), in partnership with the School of Judges of Tocantins (PPGPJDH/UFT/ ESMAT), and has the support of the State Public Defender (DPE). Its objectives are to raise awareness about human rights through qualified dialogue on themes and everyday practices of society, stimulated by the cinematographic language; contribute to the formation of a culture of peace and education in Human Rights; promote access to culture and scientific dialogue on human rights with society, allowing free and plural participation in a space of interconnectedness; and to disseminate, in an interdisciplinary way, the legal and scientific knowledge about Human Rights and the contento f the research carried out within the scope of the PPGPJDH UFT/ESMAT. Two other debates on cinematographic productions are planned that discuss the rights of the elderly and indigenous peoples.