Abstract:
This paper aims to examine forensic interviewing techniques during child sexual abuse allegations using South
African lenses. Forensic Social Work education and practice in South Africa is emerging as it has been adopted
from the United States of America. There are currently no guidelines for forensic social workers to inform the
assessment of children who are alleged to be sexually abused which are in a South African context. For the
protection of children, skillful forensic interviews must be conducted for perpetrators of child sexual abuse to be
convicted. Forensic interviews help in eliciting accurate and complete report from the alleged child victim to
determine if the child has been sexually abused and if so, by whom. The ecosystems theory is used to guide this
paper. An extensive literature review was conducted to zoom into systems in South Africa which influence the
effectiveness of the forensic interviewing techniques useful to facilitate the disclosure of sexual abuse amongst
children.