A study on knowledge and

prevalence of child sexual abuse

among secondary school students in
Sunsari district.

Rakshya Niroula
Roll:282
BPH 3rd year
Contents to be covered
 Background
 Statement of the problem rationale of the
study
 Objectives
 Research question
 Variables
 Conceptual framework
 Methodology of research
Background
 Child sexual abuse (CSA) is the involvement of a
child in sexual activity to which he or she is
unable to give informed consent (act may not
fully comprehend) or for which the child is not
prepared developmentally (physically and
mentally) and cant give consent or which violates
the laws or social taboos of society (UNICEF). [1]
 Background….contd
 Sexual abuse includes a range of behaviors,
including vaginal, anal, or oral penetration,
fondling, exhibitionism, child prostitution, child
pornography, voyeurism, sodomy and verbal
stimulation

 Child sexual abuse is a common occurrence in

our society but talking about it and dealing with it
is still a taboo.
 Contd….
 Children who are subject to sexual abuse and rape
can suffer lifelong physical and emotional
problems
Ecological model of child abuse
 Heise model 1998, source:WHO,2002

society community relationship individual

Legal instruments
 The UN convention on the rights of child ratified by
Nepal in 1990 has made clear provisions for the state
parties to protect children from sexual abuse and
exploitation in different articles.

 The legislation of Nepal defines child sexual abuse as

rape of a woman below 16 years of age with or without
her consent by any means or rape of woman above 16
years of age without her consent by any means.
Problem statement

 About 40 million children are estimated to be abused

every year resulting in physical, psychological,
emotional and social sufferings
 Studies show that prevalence of sexual abuse among
girls is 7-34% and 3-29% among boys .[3]
 According to a survey of high school adolescents in
US, 12% were sexually abused, 5% of boys were
sexually abused.[3]
Contd…
 In a study in Sri Lanka (de Silva 2001) among A-level
and undergraduate student, 18% boys admitted to
having been sexually abused during childhood and
4.5% of the girls had been abused.[4]
 Similarly a study done in India revealed that 52.2% of
children are sexually abused

 According to CWIN, of 223 recorded cases of rapes of

women and children in 2002 nepal, 78% were of
children aged less than 16 years which included the
rape of children of less than 10 years and both boys
and girls.[5]
Literature review
 A study conducted by CWIN(2006) among
school students in 4 district of Nepal, use of
obscence language was found to be the most
prevalent form of sexual abuse experienced
by 34% of children. likewise, 26% of
children were found to have been exposed to
obscence materials with ill intent. While
22% of children experienced exhibitionism
from adults. 18% of children experienced
contact form of sexual abuse.
Contd…
 In a similar study conducted by SCNN and CWIN in
kathmandu valley in 2003 ,13 percent of sample
boys and 14.5 percent of sample girls mentioned
experiencing one or more contact forms of abuse.

 Thus unlike the common belief that only girls are

sexually abused, the research showed that boys also
face sexual abuse, whatever its effects may be on
them.[7]
Rationale
 Research show that Adolescent school students are
vulnerable to child sexual abuse.

 Very few research have been done to study the

prevalence of CSA in Nepal.

 Understanding the knowledge gap among children

about CSA is crucial in planning educational
intervention
Contd…
 The physical and mental problems resulting from
CSA in combination with social stigmatization and
discrimination affects overall well being of children
even upto adulthood.
Research questions
 What is the knowledge on child sexual abuse
among the secondary students in sunsari
district?
 What are the different forms of sexual abuse
prevalent in secondary students?
 Who are the perpetrators of CSA?
 Where do incidents of CSA mostly occur?
Variables
Independent variables
 Age

 Sex

 Caste/Ethnicity

 Single parent

 Education status of parent

 Alcohol/drug abuse by parents

Dependent variables
 Knowledge of student on sexual abuse

 Personal experience of sexual abuse

Conceptual framework
CASTE/ FAMILY CONSTELLATION ALCOHOL AND
ETHNICITY DRUG ABUSE

AGE

EDUCATIONAL LEVEL OF
PARENTS
SEX

LEGISLATION AND VULNERABILIY TO CSA KNOWLEDGE ON CSA

ENFORCEMENT

PREVALENCE OF CSA
 Objectives
General objective
 To assess the knowledge of children on sexual abuse
and find out the prevalence of child sexual abuse in
Sunsari.
Objectives….
 Specific objectives
 To assess the knowledge of children on sexual
abuse.
 To identify the different form of sexual abuse in
secondary school student
 To identify the perpetrators of sexual abuse
secondary school student
 To find out the place of occurrence of sexual
abuse in secondary school student
Methodology
 Study type: both quantitative and qualitative

 Study design : descriptive cross sectional and

exploratory

 Study population: children of under 18 years

of sunsari district
Methodology…
 Sampling design
 Sampling method: Non probability purposive
sampling
 Sample size : 150 students of class 8,9,10
 Sampling frame: Total students of the school
selected for study
Contd…
Data collection method:
 Self administered questionnaire
 Focus group discussion

Tools
 Structured questionnaire
 FGD guideline
Contd…
Data management and analysis
 Findings from SAQ will be analysed in SPSS

 Pre-testing will be done in similar school and

necessary correction will be made.
Validity and reliability

 Preparation of research proposal will be done

in close guidance of the research guide.

 Adequate literature reviews will be done to

ensure accuracy of information and validity of
tools.
Contd…
 The set of questionnaire and FGD guideline
will be checked and verified by the research
guide and concerned teachers.

 Pretesting will be done in similar setting

Limitation of the study
 Since the school will be purposively selected
,the findings cant be generalized .
 As CSA is a sensitive issue, some children
especially girls may not admit any sexual
abuse they might have suffered due to fear or
hesitation.
 In this research, the definition of CSA doesn’t
encompass trafficking, prostitution, sex
tourism and pornography though they are
Ethical consideration
 Permission will be taken from the concerned
school authority before conducting the study.
 Verbal informed consent will be taken from
the participants before distributing SAQ and
the objectives of the research will clarified to
them.
 Participants will be assured that
confidentiality and privacy would be
maintained.
Expected outcome of the study
 Identify information gap about sexual abuse
in school students .
 This study may help in guiding other research
in large scale
 Planning and implementing awareness raising
campaign against child sexual abuse at local
level
 Acquaintance with research procedure
Comments are warmly welcomed