Academic literature on the topic 'Child sexual abuse, Africa'

This paper aims to examine forensic interviewing techniques during child sexual abuse allegations using South African lenses. Forensic Social Work education and practice in South Africa is emerging as it has been adopted from the United States of America.  There are currently no guidelines for forensic social workers to inform the assessment of children who are alleged to be sexually abused which are in a South African context. For the protection of children, skillful forensic interviews must be conducted for perpetrators of child sexual abuse to be convicted. Forensic interviews help in eliciting accurate and complete report from the alleged child victim to determine if the child has been sexually abused and if so, by whom. The ecosystems theory is used to guide this paper. An extensive literature review was conducted to zoom into systems in South Africa which influence the effectiveness of the forensic interviewing techniques useful to facilitate the disclosure of sexual abuse amongst children.

The extent and representativeness of child sexual abuse reporting in the South African English-language press were examined. Baseline data for the study comprised a complete record of all cases of child sexual abuse reported to the police in the North Durban Policing area (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) from January 2001 to December 2004, with newspaper reports of child sexual abuse being obtained from the 2004 online archives of a South African English-language newspaper. Study findings indicate that press coverage of child sexual abuse is negligible (i.e., an index of crime-news coverage of less than 1%), with the nature of cases covered by the press being largely representative of the types of cases reported to the police.

Child sexual abuse is a global public health issue calling the attention of practitioners, scholars and policy makers to address it. This study argues that children are being sexually abused both by family and non-family members, and such incidents are not always reported and/or disclosed due to various influential factors. This study was aimed at exploring and describing possible influential factors for the non-disclosure of child sexual abuse amongst Bapedi tribe. A qualitative approach with a descriptive phenomenological design was followed. Fifteen caregivers of children were purposively selected in order to pursue the aim of this study.  Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed thematically through the help of Nvivo Software. The findings indicate that due to factors such as fear of the perpetrator, the practice of the spirit of ubuntu, socio-economic status of the family and relationship with the perpetrator, protecting the dignity of the family, fear of victimisation, fear of witchcraft, and cultural beliefs, child sexual abuse in the Bapedi tribe is an issue to be dealt with by families affected and if need be, traditional courts intervene in case the families disagree. It can therefore be concluded that there is a lack of information on the nastiness of child sexual offences against children amongst Bapedi tribe. Therefore, the Bapedi tribe must be empowered to disclose and/or report child sexual abuse and the implications of not doing so.

Sexual abuse has severe negative impacts on children’s lives, but little is known about risk factors for sexual abuse victimization in sub-Saharan Africa. This study examined prospective predictors of contact sexual abuse in a random community-based sample of children aged 10 to 17 years ( N = 3,515, 56.6% female) in South Africa. Self-report questionnaires using validated scales were completed at baseline and at 1-year follow-up (96.8% retention rate). Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between hypothesized factors and sexual abuse were examined. For girls, previous sexual abuse (odds ratio [OR] = 3.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [2.03, 5.60]), baseline school dropout (OR = 2.76, 95% CI = [1.00, 6.19]), and physical assault in the community (OR = 2.17, 95% CI = [1.29, 3.48]) predicted sexual abuse at follow-up. Peer social support (OR = 0.84, 95% CI = [0.74, 0.98]) acted as a protective factor. Previous contact sexual abuse was the strongest predictor of subsequent sexual abuse victimization. In addition, peer support moderated the relationship between baseline assault and subsequent sexual abuse. For boys, no longitudinal predictors for sexual abuse victimization were identified. These results indicate that the most vulnerable girls—those not in school and with a history of victimization—are at higher risk for sexual abuse victimization. High levels of peer support reduced the risk of sexual abuse victimization and acted as a moderator for those who had experienced physical assault within the community. Interventions to reduce school drop-out rates and revictimization may help prevent contact sexual abuse of girls in South Africa.

This is an investigation into the prevalence and patterns of child sexual abuse and victim-perpetrator relationship among a sample of university students. 722 undergraduate students of psychology at the University of the North, South Africa, filled in a retrospective self-rating questionnaire in a classroom setting. The questionnaire asked childhood sexual forms of abuse, victim-perpetrator relationships and self-rating of childhood. Result shows an overall (N=649) child sexual abuse prevalence rate of 25.6%; 21.7% for males (N=244), 23.7% for females (N=465). 18.2% were kissed sexually, 13.6% were touched sexually, 8.7% were victims of oral/anal/vaginal intercourse. Most of the perpetrators are people known to the victims. Many victims (83% of the male victims and 68.2% of the female victims) perceived themselves as not sexually abused during childhood; and most rated their childhood as either “average” (41.3% of the female victims and 48.9% of the male victims) or as “very happy” (41.3% of the female victims and 40.4% of the male victims). The author calls for more research, publicity, and campaigns against childhood sexual abuse in the Northern Province.

Due to the statutory obligation to report child sexual abuse to the authorities, children in South Africa are increasingly called to testify in criminal proceedings. A recent qualitative study found that South African parents and social workers are often advised by legal professionals to postpone pre-trial therapy (therapy provided to child witnesses prior to testimony) until after the child’s testimony, based on concerns that therapy could contaminate the child’s version of events, and might ultimately lead to an acquittal of the accused. In this study, the authors analysed selected authoritative documents to explore whether or not any directives exist in respect of the provision of pre-trial therapy to child victims of sexual abuse in South Africa. Our findings suggest that none of the authoritative documents included in our document review specifically mention the rendering of pre-trial therapy to child victims of sexual abuse. Recommendations for policy reform and research are made.

Child sexual abuse is a universal problem that affects both boys and girls. In Zambia,
 like many other African countries, there are certain conditions and circumstances
 that put children at risk of sexual abuse. However, these risk factors remain explored
 (Chiroro et al., 2006). This study, therefore, was aimed at investigating risk factors and
 exploring child sexual abuse in Lusaka District. Specifically, it focused on identifying
 the forms of sexual abuse; examine the factors that put children at risk for sexual
 abuse; find out the grooming tactics used by sexual abusers; find out the disclosure
 rate for child sexual abuse cases; examine the abuser-victim relationships; and make
 recommendations for child sexual abuse prevention. Participants were 200 secondary
 school pupils (86 males and 114 females), who were randomly selected. Their ages
 ranged from sixteen to twenty-one years. Data was collected using a structured selfreport
 questionnaire and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). Data analysis was done
 using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).
 The results show an overall prevalence rate of child sexual abuse to be 43.5 per cent
 (n=87). Of the 87 victims, 41.1 per cent (n=36) were males and 58.6 per cent (n=51)
 were females. Among the forms of sexual abuse, sexual touch/arousal had the highest
 frequency (n=54, 62.1%). Most of the subjects (75.6%, n=19) did not disclose their
 sexual experiences, whereas only 24.4 per cent (n=19) did. Most abusers were found
 to be family members (n=39, 44%).
 Six risk factors for sexual abuse were examined, and the most powerful one was
 parental absence (n=63, 73.3%); having punitive parents (n=57, 68.7%); alcohol
 intake by a parent or other guardian (n=30, 34.5%); poor parent-child relationship
 (n=20, 23.7%); parental conflict (n=19, 22.4%); and presence of a stepparent (n=13,
 13.1%).
 Furthermore, the results obtained from the FGDs show that the most frequently used
 trick for sexual abuse is the offer of money and/other gifts (n=21, 67.8%). Fifty-six
 (69%) of the victims lacked knowledge to know that the grooming they experienced
 would result into sexual abuse. The study tested two hypotheses:
 (a) alcohol intake by the parent or guardian is not a significant risk factor for child
 sexual abuse;
 (b) in Lusaka District, children and adolescents that are sexually abused have
 adequate knowledge of the grooming tactics used by abusers.
 The results showed that:
 (a) there is a significant relationship (p=0.004) between child sexual abuse and
 parental or guardian intake of alcohol;
 (b) there is a significant relationship (p=0.000) between child sexual abuse and
 children’s lack of knowledge of the grooming tactics used by sexual abusers.
 Recommendations made include:
 (a) teacher training in the area of child sexual abuse;
 (b) encouragement of research culture among Zambian scholars in the area of
 child sexual abuse; and
 (c) active involvement of children, parents, teachers and the government in the
 prevention of child sexual abuse.

The study on girl child sexual abuse and whose findings are presented in this article
 was conducted in 2010 as an academic requirement for the purpose of completing a
 Master’s degree in Gender Studies at the University of Zambia.
 This article outlines issues of sexual abuse and the various reasons why under-age
 girls are more vulnerable to sexual abuse, cultural beliefs with regard to sexual abuse,
 gender and power relations and sexual abuse, and existing community programmes and
 knowledge levels, and institutional mechanisms of the sexual abuse case reporting in
 Lusaka urban. The article has drawn conclusions and recommendations for enhancing
 the protection of the children against child sexual abuse. By conducting a study that
 comprehensively assesses the types of programmes and perceived implementation
 gaps from Lusaka, this report poses specific policy and structural recommendations
 on how best to address the existing problem of increased vulnerability of under-age
 girls to sexual abuse.
 Child sexual abuse is a form of abuse in which a child is abused for the sexual
 gratification of an adult or older adolescent (CHIN, 2005: 53). Child sexual abuse is
 the actual or the likely sexual exploitation of a child and includes rape, incest and all
 forms of sexual activity (VSO, 2008: 2). In Zambia, anyone under the age of sixteen
 is classified as a child.
 Researchers cite various reasons why child sexual abuse is so common: Gender
 power relations (patriarchy views which place women and children in lower positions),
 poverty, a legacy of violent homes, power relations between children and adults, and
 cultural beliefs.
 The research was an exploratory study undertaken in Lusaka urban and endeavored
 to explore why the problem of sexual abuse was persistent and why under-age children
 were vulnerable to it. Using purposive and simple random sampling, a sample size of
 seventy was arrived at and both qualitative and quantitative approaches of research
 were employed. The data was then analysed manually and by Statistical Package for
 Social Science (SPSS).
 The institutions visited were: Ministry of Community Development and Social
 Welfare, Women and Law in Southern Africa Trust, The Child Protection Unit of
 the Zambia Police Service, Young Women Christian Association, Isubilo Orphanage
 and Drop-in Centre and Jesus Cares Ministries Orphanage. Additionally, community
 members from Chawama, Mtendere and Kabwata compounds were interviewed for
 more insight into the study.
 The study results showed that under-age girl-children were more vulnerable to sexual
 abuse because they were easy to coerce, threaten, lure and could be more trusting
 than much older girls. Further, the study revealed that gender-power relations, power
 relations between children and adults, cultural beliefs and community programmes on
 sexual abuse played a role in girl child sexual abuse.
 The overall study recommendations were coined from the outcomes and
 conclusions made in the study as follows: children needed more focused education
 to increase their knowledge about child sexual abuse; intensify funding injections
 into already functional community and school programmes, for example the School
 Liaison Programme under the Zambia Police Service; putting in place a holistic
 approach to sensitise community members centring on encroaching cultural norms
 and practices that perpetrate child sexual abuse; there was need to intensify and widen
 the coverage of programmes on child sexual abuse clearly stipulating and defining
 types of sexual abuse; the law and punishment for perpetrators; perceived gaps in the
 awareness programmes and institutional mechanism for sexual abuse case reporting
 was bureaucratically long, long court procedures and negative cultural doctrines also
 played a role and as such needed attention.