NCJ Number
183118
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 24 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2000 Pages: 259-268
Date Published
2000
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study investigates the risk factors that could discriminate childhood sexual abuse (CSA) from non-abuse in the Northern Province, South Africa.
Abstract
A study of 414 secondary school students showed an overall CSA prevalence rate of 54.2 percent (60 percent for males, 53.2 for females). Four factors significantly discriminated CSA victims from non-abused subjects: ethnicity other than Northern Sotho, mother employed at a level higher than laborer, a stepparent present in the family during childhood, and violence at home not seldom. Increase in the number of combinations of the four significant factors increased the probability of the discrimination in a linear manner. These rates may be explained by the following factors. Many parents in the province are migrant laborers who are away from home for lengthy periods, leaving children with relatives or nannies and at risk for abuse, especially sexual abuse. Teenage pregnancy is rampant in the area. When the teenage mothers marry, stepfathers might abuse the children or others might abuse the children if mothers leave them home when they return to school or work. Many abandoned children in the province are fending for themselves, begging for food, making them vulnerable to sexual abuse by adults who he1p them. Forty-eight percent of the population is under the age of 15 years, with many living in very poor economic and health conditions and thus easily lured into sexual abuse with gifts. Tables, references