Perception of the community towards child sexual abuse in Chawama,Lusaka,district, Zambia

Abstract

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is considered an extensive problem and occurs worldwide, including in Zambia. Therefore, in order to understand the vice, exploration of communitys perceptions is needed. This study on child sexual abuse was conducted in Chawama compound because despite the government of Zambias (GRZ) efforts to minimise the scourge, the prevalence of defilement remains high. The study sought to explore the Perception of the Community towards child sexual abuse in Chawama. A qualitative design was employed using focus groups discussions (FGD) and indepth interviews to collect data from a sample that was selected using purposive sampling technique. Nine focus group discussions and nine (9) indepth interviews were conducted with community members. The focus group discussions and indepth interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis. The results revealed that participants were aware of the meaning of child sexual abuse. They reported that it is having sexual intercourse with a child who is less than 16 years irrespective of whether the child consents or not to the act. They also reported that a girl child is more vulnerable to sexual abuse than a boy child. They perceived child sexual abuse to be a frequent and hidden phenomenon and attributed it to community beliefs and attitudes such as Human immune virus/ acquire immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) cure and children being perceived to be lucky charms. Men’s heavy alcohol intake and lack of self-control, poverty and a lack of parental guidance among others were seen to contribute factors to the increase of Child Sexual Abuse cases. Participants also reported that children disclose abuse cases but parents often do not report the cases to the police due to poverty, fear of shame to the family, fear of failure to find a suitor for marriage in future, and fear of marriage breakdown. The study showed that child sexual abuse is common in Zambia and the cases are still on the increase. The community perceptions towards child sexual abuse such as having sex with a child bringing luck to one’s business and cures HIV/AIDs are some of the contributing factors to the increase in the child sexual abuse cases. Addressing the identified factors may promote helpseeking behavior and improve care of survivors of child sexual abuse, while changes in social and cultural norms are needed for the prevention of child sexual abuse and to strengthen and enforce laws regarding child sexual abuse