Victimology of Child Survivors of Sexual Assault with Special Emphasis on Judicial Outcome: A 10-year Retrospective Study

Introduction Sexual abuse of children has become a subject of great community concern and the focus of many legislative and professional initiatives. Despite the existence of a strong legal framework, there has been a substantial increase in the number of crimes against children. This study aims to study the demography of the child survivors, analysing the victim-perpetrator relationship and circumstances at the time of the crime. Methodology The study’s objective is to find out why the final judicial outcome of the cases has been decided. This is a retrospective study of records of victims of sexual assault who were brought for examination between January 2010 and December 2019.The study includes sexual assault victims who were under the age of 18. Results Thirty of the 231 cases under analysis resulted in a conviction, while 60 ended in acquittal. In court, 143 cases are still open. Conclusion The burden of proof typically rests with the defence party in matters involving sexual violence since they are commonly easy to report but difficult to prove. The current study contributes to our understanding of the system’s flaws and how people have taken advantage of them to their advantageous ends.