“She Got Spoilt”: Perceptions of Victims of Child Sexual Abuse in Ghana

ABSTRACT

International research has commented on social stigma as a key reason for nondisclosure of child sexual abuse. However, the actual components of this social stigma frequently remain unexplored. The present study deals with perceptions of consequences of child sexual abuse among professionals and laypeople in Ghana (N = 44), employing a bystander perspective. As a qualitative study using a grounded theory framework, it considers these consequences in light of their underlying beliefs about child and adolescent development, particularly in relation to gender-based expectations placed on girls and boys. Consequences of child sexual abuse could be divided into sexual health consequences, beliefs about “destroyed innocence” and beliefs about a “destroyed future,” which were strongly related to the sexual nature of the violence perpetrated. These perceived consequences of child sexual abuse hold implications for what surviving child sexual abuse means on a social level. Implications for practice are discussed on the basis of the data analysis.

KEYWORDS:

• Child sexual abuse
• consequences
• victim blaming
• Ghana
• grounded theory
• qualitative research

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank, first and foremost, all research participants without whom this work would not have been possible. A further thank-you also goes to my research supervisor, Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Zwick, as well as the following supporters: Barima Akwasi Amankwaah (GNCRC), Samuel Kyei-Berico (Ark Foundation), Paul Semeh (SCEF), Elaine Brown (SCEF), Isaac Abaidoo (SCEF), Joyce Odame (Alliance for a Brighter Future), Cecilia Oduro (Department of Social Welfare), George Baiden (ANPPCAN), Sylvester-Kyei-Gyamfi (University of Ghana), Delali Dovie, Mildred Adwoa Konadu, and Frederica O. Davids.

Funding

This work was supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD Short-Term Scholarship for Doctoral Students).

Notes

1. It is not clarified in the study which percentage of street children were homeless, although the qualitative information emerging in the interviews suggests that participants were residing with other children rather than adults.

2. The study did not explicitly ask children about abuse or term it as such, but rather asked them about all sexual contact (including verbal advances), whether initiated by peers or adults. The children were then asked what they did and reasons for (not) acting. One option allowed them to state that they had wanted the sexual contact. The most common form of sexual contact was verbal harassment.

3. Porters of goods at markets.

4. The decision was made to interview one participant individually due to his position as a head or a large child protection organization. Conducting a homogenous focus group at this hierarchical level was not possible at the time, and including him in a group with individuals working for him might have impeded their freedom of expression.

5. Local colloquialism describing expulsion from a residence.

6. Witchcraft.

7. A 2012 pilot study featuring individual interviews used data from laypeople who had not been informed on child sexual abuse or received any training.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD Short-Term Scholarship for Doctoral Students).

Notes on contributors

Bettina Böhm

Bettina Böhm is a Mental Health Manager with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) currently stationed in the Irbid Child Mental Health Project, Jordan.