Raising the Awareness of Students in a Child Development Department regarding the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the training given to raise awareness of child sexual abuse among students at a Turkish University. For this study, a quasi-experimental method, the single group pretest posttest model, was used. The data were collected using a questionnaire that was distributed to students in the Department of Child Development before and after relevant training. The study sample consisted of 87 participants. In this study, increased awareness was indicted by the participants’ understanding of good and bad touching following the instruction. In addition, the attitudes of the participants regarding the use of correct anatomical names when teaching about the genitals and their knowledge of the special regions of the body increased (p <.05). The findings of the study showed that the “awareness training” was an effective program for increasing sensitivity regarding the prevention of sexual abuse. Consequently, it is recommended that lessons on child abuse should be included in the university educational curriculum, and that programs promoting sensitivity to this issue should be promoted. It is also recommended that similar studies, with larger samples, should be carried out in the fields of educational science and health science.

KEYWORDS:

• Child sexual abuse
• prevention education
• child protection
• education of child development department students
• pediatric nursing

Acknowledgments

This study was shared as an oral presentation at the 25^th World Nursing and Healthcare Conference July 11-12, 2019 Vienna, Austria.

Limitations

More fruitful outcomes can be achieved if education sessions are organized to include instructors, families, and children simultaneously. At the same time, the effectiveness of the education can be increased if children are involved in activities with tangible practices appropriate to their age levels. The study was conducted in a single province and in a single department.

Additional information

Funding

The author (s) received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.

Notes on contributors

Sebahat Altundağ

Altundağ Sebahat, Pamukkale University Health Science Faculty, Department of Pediatric Nursing, Denizli, Turkey.