Child Sexual Abuse: Parents Perspectives in The Accra Metropolis

ABSTRACT

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is one of the major threats to child survival. The concept of primary child sexual prevention is now being advocated by Child protection advocates. This study explored the perspective of parents on child sexual abuse prevention in the Accra Metropolis, using the ecological model as an organizing framework. A qualitative exploratory design was used to elicit responses from fifteen parents in Child protection Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. Each participant was interviewed for 30 minutes to one hour using a semi structured interview guide. All interviews were audiotaped with permission from the participants and transcribed verbatim. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze the data. Results from the analyses indicated that, the participants were able to discover four main types of sexual abuse in the study, the shared experiences of the parents ranged from absolute shock to thoughts of killing the abuser. Though some of the participants had assumed that their children were safe from child sexual abuse and probably too young to understand or appreciate sex education and the existence of the child sexual abuse phenomenon, almost all the participants have come to the realization after the sexual abuse incidence.

Educating their children on child sexual abuse prevention became their priority. The active involvement of religious organizations was a strong recommendation in preventing child sexual abuse. Following the incidence of CSA, the participants admitted to adopting various coping strategies in dealing with the impact of the CSA on their children including out-of-court settlements, counseling and spiritual support, legal redress, and family support. It was evident that most parents lacked the skill sets in talking to their children about their sexual organs and adopted various names to refer to them. Some also did not know how to preserve exhibits to enhance their case in court. Some participants strongly advocated that parents should endeavor to bond with their children more closely and spend time with them. Furthermore, monitoring and controlling the programs children watch on television will greatly assist in preventing child sexual abuse. Finally, the role of the Police Service as well as the Judicial Service in the dispensation of Justice was recommended. These findings have implications for nursing education, nursing practice, future research and policy formulation.