The Characteristics of Child Sexual Abuse in the School Environment in Turkey

ABSTRACT

School may represent a protective factor, boosting the mental health of the student body, while also representing a risk factor that heightens the potential for mental health problems. The present study aims to identify the individual and familial characteristics associated with the incidents of child sexual abuse (CSA) in Turkey’s school environment. The incidents involving school-related CSA constituted 5.6% (N = 125) of 2,238 cases. The following was discovered: an adult committed the majority (64%) of CSA in the school environment; most adult perpetrators were teachers (62.5%). This study determined that the perpetrators manipulated the victims via methods that included physical abuse (11.2%), threats (19.2%), tricks/deception (15.2%), and taking photographs/videos with sexual content (3.2%); and CSA incidents involved intercourse (15.2%); and almost three-quarter of the victims of CSA in the school environment reported the incident late. This study indicates that peer perpetrators abuse younger victims and a greater proportion of male victims relative to adult perpetrators. In light of these findings, school security must be improved, especially in public schools, and trainings aimed at preventing bullying and sexual abuse (SA) should be given to all school staff, students, and parents.

KEYWORDS:

• Childhood sexual abuse
• teacher sexual misconduct
• educator sexual abuse
• school persons
• individual and familial factors

Acknowledgments

Special acknowledgment is due to specialists working in Ankara Child Advocacy Center for helping in the process of the surveying files.

Disclosure of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Standards and Informed Consent

Ethics committee approval was obtained from Yıldırım Beyazıt University Education and Research Hospital Clinical Studies Ethics Committee.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nilüfer Koçtürk

Nilüfer Koçtürk, PhD, is a psychological counselor at SB Yıldırım Beyazıt University Yenimahalle Education and Research Hospital in Ankara. Her research interests include child abuse and neglect, sexual abuse, revictimization, myths, individual and familial risk factors, online violence, family/partner violence, disability, and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Fadime Yüksel

Fadime Yüksel, MD, is a pediatrician at SB Atatürk Education and Research Hospital in Ankara. Between the years 2011 and 2015, she took part in the establishment and coordination of Child Advocacy Centers in Turkey.