Perception of the community towards child sexual abuse in Chawama,Lusaka,district, Zambia
Date
2017
Authors
Chitundu, Kabwe
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of 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
Description
Thesis
Keywords
Child sexual abuse--Zambia , Sexually abused children--Community--Zambia