Perception of the Community towards Child Sexual Abuse: A Case of Chawama Lusaka, Zambia

Abstract

A number of scholars have reported high incidence of sexual abuse cases among children in the communities. However, little is known about the perceptions the community people have towards child sexual abuse cases. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the perception of the community towards child sexual abuse which hinders the disclosure and reporting of abuse cases. Data were collected through focused group discussions and indepth interviews, with sixty nine participants from nine (9) focused group discussions and nine (9) indepth interviews. Participants were the general community members and relatives to abused children. The interviews were recorded verbatim and transcribed; analysis of data was done using qualitative thematic analysis. Three themes emerged summarizing the factors associated with non-reporting of child sexual abuse cases which included, fear of family and community breakdown, relationship between the victim and the perpetrator and inadequate service provision by the police which also reflected the community's role in supporting the child. In conclusion the study therefore showed that child sexual abuse is common in Zambia and cases are still on the increase. However, there is great need to enforce laws regarding sexual abuse and in addition great change in attitude is needed to prevent occurrence of cases.

Perception and Attitude about Child Sexual Abuse among Vietnamese School-Age Children

“…Rural communities in Tanzania had accepting attitudes toward sexual violence [35] and parental responses showed that they had adequate knowledge regarding child sexual abuse [36,37]. However, most of the research has been aimed at investigating the perception and attitudes of men and women aged 18 years old and above [35,38,39], parents with children under 18 [40], or representatives of the socio-legal system (police investigators, magistrates, legal officers, and social officers) [41]. Meanwhile, children, who suffer the most regarding the consequences of this serious crime, had their opinions not given sufficient attention and even do not have enough cognition about the forms of CSA [42].…”