Abstract:
Sexual abuse and exploitation of children is one of the ubiquitous and the most brutal forms
of violence against children. This study assessed the impacts of child sexual abuse on
sexually abused children in Gondar city. Employing the mixed method, a total of
43(female=38 & male=5) participated in the study. Both qualitative and quantitative data
were collected. Qualitative data were collected through focus group discussion and key
informant interview; whereas, quantitative data were collected through standardized scales.
Data analyses were undertaken using quantitative and qualitative techniques. Quantitative
analyses were conducted by using SPSS version 20. Specifically, frequency, mean and
standard deviation were used. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically.. Results show
that parental death, family conflict, poverty, illiteracy, drug and substance use are the major
causes of child sexual abuse in the study area. Findings also show that post-traumatic stress
disorder (Mean=63.2 & SD=6.4), poor self-esteem (Mean=5.4 & SD=1.2) and social
interaction anxiety (Mean=31.5 & SD=4.8) as the psychosocial effects of child sexual abuse
among sexually abused children. Results also indicate that the community is less emphatic
to blame the incidence of child sexual abuse due to socio-cultural belief in the dominance of
males over females. Consequently, preventive and remedial actions for incidence of sexual
abuse expected from the community are almost absent which aggravates the situation.
Findings of the study entail different implications; for instance, focal government and nongovernment organizations should take the initiation to overcome the problem through jointly
combating child sexual abuse causes such as poverty and illiteracy.
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