Evaluation of a school-based sexual abuse prevention program for female children with intellectual disabilities in rural Pakistan- A feasibility study.

BACKGROUND

Child sexual abuse is one of the most pervasive threats to children's wellbeing worldwide. Globally, around 7% to 19% of children have been estimated to be a victim of child sexual abuse. In Pakistan, around 18 thousand instances of child sexual abuse were reported in the last five years.

AIMS: Current study aimed to evaluate the preliminary effect, acceptability and feasibility of a sexual abuse prevention program for children with intellectual disabilities, in a rural public school of Pakistan.

METHOD: A non-randomized (pre-post) evaluation of the acceptability, feasibility and impact of the adapted sexual abuse prevention program on a range of knowledge and skills-based outcomes of 15 female children with mild intellectual disability was undertaken. Participants were exposed to a 5-session based program incorporating common sexual abuse prevention concepts, e.g. knowledge of private body parts, body ownership, discriminating between safe and threatening situations, refusing to sexual lures, escaping the situation and reporting the potential offender. Structured assessments were conducted with children before and after intervention delivery.

RESULTS

The school-based sexual abuse prevention program was shown to be acceptable, feasible and efficacious in improving sexual abuse prevention knowledge and skills of female children with a mild intellectual disability enrolled in a public school of rural Pakistan.

CONCLUSIONS

The program offers a promising framework for school-based sexual abuse prevention in Pakistan.