A review of the history of America's courts and their equivocal treatment of child sexual abuse victims reveals the system's insensitivity to the special needs of child witnesses and victims. Current courtroom procedures often do not acknowledge a child witness's particular abilities and needs, as most courts expect children to testify within the same format and setting as adult witnesses. This book argues that courtroom procedures must change to adapt to children's needs and capabilities. The book explains how America's laws and trial traditions, when correctly interpreted, provide the flexibility necessary to foster an effective contribution from child witnesses while mitigating the stress they experience. Suggestions include the use of closed-circuit television for a child's testimony, allowing the child to sit on a parent's lap while testifying, permitting a familiar lay person to pose the prosecutor's questions to the child witness, using anatomically correct dolls to assist the child in testifying, and speaking to the child in language suited to the child's cognitive development. Organizational resource list, chapter notes, 161-item bibliography, subject index. (Publisher summary modified)