CAPE TOWN - UCT STUDY SUGGESTS SEXUAL ABUSE IN CHILDREN LEADS TO OTHER 'PROMINENT SOCIAL ILLS'

Sexual abuse in children leads to other “prominent social ills” such as teenage pregnancy and HIV/Aids in South Africa‚ the Optimus Study reveals.

Catherine Ward from the Department of Psychology at the University of Cape Town‚ and one of the researchers of the study‚ presented the research findings at the International Conference for Preventing Violence on Wednesday and stated that the study explored instances of sexual‚ physical and emotional abuse as well as neglect and family violence‚ among others.

 According to Ward‚ the study‚ the first-ever nationally representative study of child maltreatment in South Africa‚ revealed that of the young people the researchers interviewed in schools‚ 35.4%‚ or one in every three‚ had experienced some form of sexual abuse at some point in their lives.

 “Figures from the household portion of the study are slightly lower‚ but confirm that the rates are high.

“In households‚ 26.3%‚ more than a quarter of young people interviewed‚ reported having experienced some form of sexual abuse‚” Ward said.

 “This means that a total of at least 784‚967 young people in South Africa have been the victims of sexual abuse by the age of 17 years.

“A total of 351‚214 cases of sexual abuse had occurred among 15- to 17-year-olds in the past year alone‚” she added.

 Ward went further to add that young people who have been sexually abused are at greater risk for engaging in sexual risk behaviours‚ a phenomenon known as ‘repetition compulsion’.

“People who have endured traumatic situations lost control in that situation‚ and are sometimes unconsciously compelled to repeat the trauma or to put themselves in a situation where it might occur again‚ in an attempt to establish control.

 “In addition‚ their ideas about healthy sexual expression may have been distorted by the trauma.

“Thus young people who have been sexually abused would benefit not only from counselling to address the abuse ‚ but also specific support to develop the skills to manage their sexual encounters‚ so that they are both protected against infections and pregnancy‚ and are enabled to enjoy future sexual encounters‚” Ward stated.

 “South Africa needs to become a path finder country if we want to eradicate violence against children by 2030.

 “We need to focus our attention of this.

 “My stance on this is that we should be preventing violence against children because it is a human right – the right to safety‚” Ward added.

Link to study

VIA - sowetanlive.co.za