Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse: Analysis and Discussion of the Field

Prevention of child sexual abuse is complicated, challenging, and highly necessary as sexual abuse of children and youth represents an extensive problem across the world. This article reviews the existing preventive interventions targeting children, parents, and professionals. An alternative way of organizing the child sexual abuse prevention research literature is offered and applied with emphasis on three areas: (a) child sexual abuse prevention interventions, (b) meta-analyses of child sexual abuse prevention interventions, and (c) general theoretical models about prevention and the child. Based on an analysis of these areas, it was found that there was a lack of connection between theoretical models and concrete preventive interventions. An overview of current challenges and future possibilities in this area is provided.     

Sexual abuse of individuals with disabilities: prevention strategies for clinical practice

Sexual abuse of individuals with disabilities occurs in alarming proportions, although the prevalence and incidence of such abuse is difficult to determine. Although all states maintain statistics on child sexual abuse, the rate of victimization for individuals with disabilities is not specific. This paper reviews several studies conducted on sexual abuse of individuals with disabilities with a focus on clinical prevention strategies. Recommendations for future directions in prevention and research are provided.     

Partnering with parents to prevent childhood sexual abuse

Although research demonstrates that child‐focused sexual abuse prevention programmes can teach children personal safety knowledge and skills, childhood sexual abuse (CSA) prevention programmes that involve parents have a number of distinct advantages. The more knowledge parents have about CSA, the greater likelihood they can create safer environments for their children and thus prevent the occurrence of sexual exploitation. Research has demonstrated that parents lack crucial information about CSA and can benefit from even brief educational efforts. This paper will identify potential barriers to participation and offer practical suggestions for enhancing both recruitment and retention rates. Recommendations for parent education programmes are offered, including improving parents' confidence and skills in educating their children about CSA, providing them with parent‐friendly materials to use and developing Internet applications. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cultural issues in disclosures of child sexual abuse

Cultural norms affect the likelihood that child sexual abuse will be discovered by an adult or disclosed by a child. Cultural norms also affect whether abused children's families will report child sexual abuse to authorities. This article explores the ways ethnic and religious culture affect child sexual abuse disclosure and reporting, both in the United States and internationally. Guidelines for culturally sensitive child abuse interviewing are provided to facilitate disclosures of abuse from culturally diverse children in formal settings.     

Knowledge and Skills of Sexual Abuse Prevention: A Study on School-Aged Children in Beijing,China

To examine the level of child sexual abuse prevention knowledge and skills in a sample of school-aged children, a total of 559 children from first to fifth grade were recruited from one primary school in Beijing, China. Participants were asked to finish a questionnaire surveying their knowledge and skills of child sexual abuse prevention. Results showed that accurate rate of knowledge on child sexual abuse prevention were between 44.0% and 80.0%. Percentage of participants having applied the self-protection skills of “saying ‘no,’” “going away,” and “telling adults” properly in hypothetical situations was 57.4%, 28.3%, and 48.3%, respectively. Third-to-fifth graders had a better performance than first-to-second graders, and girls performed better than boys. Findings suggest that Chinese school-aged children are in need of knowledge and skills related to child sexual abuse prevention, and education programs should be developed as soon as possible.     

Sexual Abuse Prevention Concept Knowledge: Low Income Children Are Learning but Still Lagging

School-based child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention programs have proliferated since beginning over 30 years ago. Research on program effectiveness has emphasized summative outcomes while under-reporting implementation and process fidelity, limiting reliable comparisons across programs and populations. External validity is further limited by racially and economically homogenous samples, or a failure to report such demographics. This article presents data from a CSA prevention program delivered to 2nd and 3rd grade public school children. A formative concept and item level analysis on the Children’s Knowledge of Abuse Questionnaire at baseline and four week follow-up, as well as fidelity and implementation data, are reported. Results show that children learn and retain certain concepts, but vary widely in knowledge across items. This sample of low-income, minority children also show lower baseline and “learned” abuse prevention knowledge compared to published norms, which is not attributed to implementation variability. These data give critical insight into workshop effectiveness that is masked in summative reporting, yet essential to adapting and strengthening school-based CSA programs. Knowing the long-term consequences of adverse childhood experiences and disparate health outcomes linked to race and socioeconomic status, it is imperative to adequately assess CSA prevention program impact across diverse populations.     

News coverage of child sexual abuse and prevention, 2007-2009

News media coverage of child sexual abuse can help policymakers and the public understand what must be done to prevent future abuse, but coverage tends to focus on extreme cases. This article presents an analysis of newspaper coverage from 2007 to 2009 to describe how the daily news presents and frames day-to-day stories about child sexual abuse. When child sexual abuse receives news attention, the stories focus primarily on the criminal justice details of a specific incident rather than contextual information about causes of and solutions to child sexual abuse, and prevention is rarely addressed. We offer suggestions for strategies that advocates can use to help reporters improve news coverage so that it better contextualizes child sexual abuse and links it to prevention policies.     

The History of Child Sexual Abuse Prevention: A Practitioner's Perspective

ABSTRACT

This article examines the history and current condition of child sexual abuse prevention efforts in the United States, emphasizing the perspective of those engaged in developing and working in such programs. The author argues that child sexual abuse prevention programs had built-in challenges given the topical area as well as the rapid growth of such programs combined with a paucity of resources and, initially, research, to support and inform its growth. Common criticisms of child sexual abuse prevention programs are examined and alternative explanations are postulated to explain certain weaknesses of programs. Finally, the author challenges researchers to broaden their research of sexual abuse prevention efforts beyond single population, single variable (such as knowledge gain) designs to understand more fully what is currently being done nationally to prevent the sexual abuse of children. Additionally, clear broad-based support for prevention in the wider field of child abuse is encouraged to build on the successes of prevention efforts.     

Therapeutically Managing Reunification After Abuse Allegations

School-based programs have been the central strategy to educate children about the serious nature of child sexual abuse in the hope of prevention or early intervention. Virtually all evaluations have been quantitative, seldom allowing children to directly comment on their experiences. This article presents the results of qualitative research with 116 students (51 boys and 65 girls) ranging from age 6 to 12 who had participated in the Who Do You Tell child sexual abuse education program. Ten focus groups were conducted with students in separate grades, from kindergarten through sixth grade, two to three months after program participation. The core themes that emerged from the focus group interviews are presented, as are implications for child sexual abuse prevention programs.     

Preventing child sexual abuse: parents' perceptions and practices in urban Nigeria

This study examined parents' perceptions of child sexual abuse as well as prevention practices in an urban community in southwest Nigeria. Questionnaires were collected from 387 parents and caregivers of children younger than 15 years of age. Results showed that many parents felt CSA was a common problem in the community, and most parents disagreed with common child sexual abuse myths. In addition, almost all parents ( >90%) reported communicating with their child(ren) about stranger danger. However, about 47% felt their children could not be abused, and over a quarter (27.1%) often left their children alone and unsupervised. There were no significant variations in the perceptions of child sexual abuse and communication practices. The implications of findings for child sexual abuse prevention are discussed.     

Pilot Evaluation of a Sexual Abuse Prevention Program for Taiwanese Children

The purpose of the current study was to develop and evaluate the efficacy of a school-based child sexual abuse prevention program for Taiwanese children. Forty-six Taiwanese children age 6 to 13 were divided into one of two groups based on their school grade and then randomly assigned to a skills-based child sexual abuse prevention program who received training immediately or a waiting-list control condition who received the training after a delay. Children's self-protection skills improved regardless of age after participation in the program. The program, however, did not successfully improve children's knowledge of sexuality and safety. Although future studies should modify the program content to better target knowledge of sexuality and safety, these results are promising for a pilot of this skills-based CSA prevention program in Taiwan.     

The Role of Maintaining Telephone Contact with Parents During the Teaching of a Personal Safety Program

Although recent evidence suggests that parents can be effective instructors of a personal safety program, the extent to which these results depend on maintaining contact with parents during program implementation has yet to be determined. This study examined the effectiveness of a program when taught by parents who either were or were not contacted during the teaching of the program. Preschool-aged children in both groups demonstrated enhanced knowledge and skill gains relative to children assigend to a delayed treatment control group. Low-income preschoolers learned prevention concepts and skills without being upset by the program, and their parents also appeared to benefit from teaching the program. However, the probability of completing the program was higher for parents who were contacted throughout program implementation, suggesting that personal contact may enhance motivation for some parents. Implications of the study for the child sexual abuse prevention field are discussed.     

Suffering in Silence: Child Sexual Molestation and the Black Church: If God Don’t Help Me Who Can I Turn To?

The invasion by another of a child’s inner self causes greater damage to the soul than perhaps any other type of abuse. Each year an estimated 90,000 children are victims of child sexual abuse. Many social institutions that are designed to help in healthy child development have failed to protect children from sexual abuse. The Black church is a major institution within the African American community that provides a plethora of supports for the community. However, it has also come under recent scrutiny for its failure to protect its children from sexual predators from within. The authors of this article discuss the role of the Black church, give theories to explain child sexual molestation, and make recommendations to church leaders and others for prevention and intervention of this problem. Implications for churches, human service providers, and research are also discussed.     

Parent's Perceptions of Their Child's Knowledge of Sexual Abuse Prevention Concepts

This research investigates the relationship of parental knowledge of the seriousness of child sexual abuse and their children's understanding of sexual abuse prevention concepts. A total of 284 parents and their elementary school-aged children were surveyed immediately after and 5 months after the children participated in a school-based child abuse prevention program. In the first survey, the parents were asked whether they had provided prevention materials or had talked to their child about sexual abuse. At 5 months, 201 parents answered a short test of knowledge regarding child sexual abuse. At the same time, their children completed a 40 item Children's Knowledge of Abuse Questionnaire (C.K.A.Q.) and the parents were asked to predict how their child would respond to 10 key items from this measure. Results indicated that parents in general were likely to overestimate the knowledge levels of the younger children. However, parents with higher knowledge levels more accurately predicted how their child would respond to the selcted C.K.A.Q. items.     

Commercial and sexual exploitation of children and young people in the UK—a review

This paper reviews recent information and data relevant to the commercial sexual exploitation of children and young people in the UK. Three main aspects of exploitation are addressed: abuse through prostitution; abuse through pornography; and the trafficking of children and young people to and through the UK for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. Most published research in this area relates to young people exploited through prostitution. The review explores the range of vulnerability factors, the processes used to engage young people in prostitution and the types of support strategies for those being exploited. Rather less information is currently available on the scale of child pornography, or the links between the use of pornography and other forms of sexual abuse. The internet as a modern technology for proliferating child pornography is discussed, alongside its role in providing opportunities for paedophiles to access and ‘groom’ children for sexual purposes. Finally, the review provides a summary of research on trafficking of children to and through the UK for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and demonstrates the limited knowledge about this topic. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sexual Abuse Prevention Mobile Application (SAP_MobAPP) for Primary School Children in Korea

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to develop and evaluate the effects of a sexual abuse prevention mobile application, SAP_MobAPP, for primary school children. Forty-five subjects were trained for 40 minutes once a week. The experimental group received education that utilized the SAP_MobAPP. Control group A received Web based sexual abuse prevention education, while control group B received textbook based sexual abuse prevention education. Effectiveness was verified through a survey on child sexual abuse recognition and avoidance skills administered before and after training. The SAP_MobAPP program improved recognition (awareness) and the child’s skills to avoid child sexual abuse situations, and the effects were long-lasting. However, differences between groups were not statistically significant. This study developed a sexual abuse prevention application and verified its effectiveness. Awareness and skills to avoid child sexual abuse after app education increased immediately after training and four weeks later. The SAP_MobAPP could be used for sexual abuse prevention education in schools.     

A Child Sexual Abuse Research Project: A Brief Endnote

There is a dearth of research on sexual abuse perpetrated by educators. Although the problem is receiving increasing attention, little emphasis has been placed on abuse directed at younger schoolchildren and on offenders’ accounts of this form of abuse. Here, we attempt to address this gap in knowledge by exploring the narratives of five convicted, imprisoned male child sexual abusers, each of whom worked with children in educational settings in the United Kingdom. We draw on four themes that emerged from detailed interviews with offenders, namely: the power of reputation, authority and control, the “front of invulnerability,” and disclosure of abuse. We conclude by considering the implications of our work for policy and practice.     

Abuse of children in day care centres: Characteristics and consequences

While day care sexual abuse cases share features in common with sexual abuse in other settings, many characteristics of abuse in day care settings merit special attention. These factors include the young age of the child victims, the involvement of multiple victims and multiple perpetrators, females as perpetrators, use of extreme threats, severity of the abuse, and in some instances ritualistic activities. Research findings support clinical impressions that children are negatively impacted by sexual abuse in day care. Consequences of abuse in day care include anxiety, excessive fearfulness, behavioural disturbances, sexual acting out and sleep disorders. Parents whose children are abused in day care centres also experience psychological distress with symptom profiles consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder. Abuse of children in day care settings warrants a specialized treatment approach. A major goal of treatment is to decrease symptomatology among all family members.