PATTERNS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN IN EDO SOUTH SENATORIAL DISTRICT OF EDO STATE

Abstract

This study investigated the patterns of sexual abuse among secondary school students in Edo South senatorial district of
Edo state. Four research questions were raised to guide the research. Literatures related to the studies were reviewed. The
study adopted the descriptive survey research design and the population of the study comprised 107,271 students in public
and private registered senior secondary school children in Edo South senatorial district of Edo state. The multi-staged
sampling technique was used to select 384 respondents for the study. A Self-structured questionnaire was used for the
collection of data. The research instrument was content validated and a reliability coefficient of 0.73 was obtained using
the test-retest reliability method. Data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics of frequency count, percentage
and charts. Some of the findings revealed that majority of the respondents experienced contact and non-contact child sexual
abuse with child sexual abuse incidences commonly occurring at homes, schools, and in the perpetrators’ house. With
reference to the findings, the researcher recommended among others that schools should collaborate with
parents/caregivers to develop and implement comprehensive child protection policies that clearly outline guidelines and
procedures for preventing, detecting, and responding to child sexual abuse both at home and in schools.