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Professor Daryl Higgins, Douglas Russell (Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic University); Professor Alberto Posso (RMIT)
Systematic reviews offer a broader and more reliable picture of research undertaken in the past. While many studies have investigated prevention strategies of child sexual abuse in developing and anglophone countries, little research, and no reviews have investigated the success, or challenges, facing prevention strategies in countries with less developed laws and fewer resources. The aim of this systematic review is to identify which types of prevention strategies are used most often, which ones are successful in their aims, and whether this links to preventing child sexual abuse or not.
This study, with project management by Douglas Russell, involved a systematic review of research on the nature of child sexual abuse interventions in developing countries, the settings and populations included to identify types of child sexual abuse prevention initiatives being implemented in developing countries and their effectiveness.
Most empirically evaluated interventions in developing countries have focused on preschool and primary school-aged children. Most have focused on interventions delivered in educational settings, with a lack of focus on population-level interventions to prevent child sexual abuse. Researchers have used outcomes measuring knowledge or skills for young people in self-protection and help-seeking, not deployment of those skills, actual reduction in prevalence of child sexual abuse, or improvements in conditions of safety in organisational contexts.
Method
The analysis included a systematic search of six databases and eight studies. Of the eight studies, two were from Africa, five from Asia and one from Latin America. All the studies reviewed used a quantitative methodology using quasi-experimental or experimental designs. Three studies were large-scale (over 500 participants), and six were small-scale studies.
If the focus on school-based strategies to prevent child sexual abuse continues in developing countries, a significant gap in knowledge of the efficacy of population-level interventions outside of school contexts, and consistency across the application of interventions will remain. Evaluations are needed that address the efficacy of broader government-led or whole-of-community prevention interventions to reduce actual prevalence of child sexual abuse, or that can link increased knowledge and skill with reduced victimization.
Russell, D., Higgins, D. & Posso, A. (2020). Preventing child sexual abuse: A systematic review of interventions and their efficacy in developing countries. Child Abuse & Neglect, ISSN: 0145-2134, Vol: 102, Page: 104395. doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104395
Completed 2020
For more information contact: icps@acu.edu.au
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