Awareness level of pupils on child sexual abuse in EMESA sub-location, Kisii county

Abstract

Child abuse as recorded in literature in many parts of the world continues to affect the children conventionally. The abuse dates back to ancient civilizations as seen in the reports of female genital mutilation, infanticide, neglect, abandonment and child trafficking. Child abuse is a worldwide problem that occur in various forms which is profoundly entrenched in cultural, economic and social practices. It occurs in different forms which are: physical, emotional neglect and sexual abuse. Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a global problem which cuts across all status boundaries ranging from social, economic, cultural and political. Despite a myriad research on CSA, its awareness level has been difficulty to estimate among pupils. This study therefore concentrated on awareness level of pupils on CSA. The study used systematic sampling to select pupils, convenience sampling to select parents/guardian and purposive sampling to select key informants. The sample size was 100 pupils, 100 parents/guardians and 10 key informants. The findings of the study reveal that the knowledge of teachers, parents and other caregivers on CSA preventions directly influences the child’s prevention awareness. The study recommends a dialogue among the religious institutions, policy formulators, teachers and parents the introduction of sex education both at school and societal level to equip the learners with the possible refusal technics, abuser identification, where to report in the event of abuse and the consequences of the abuse and the emphasize should not only be on girls but also boys since all can be sexually a bused.