Pattern of Sexual Abuse of Minors in Rivers State, Nigeria:A School-based Study.

INTRODUCTION

Despite increasing awareness, sexual abuse of children is still prevalent in the society. This is due to lack of unified description of what constitutes child sexual abuse. This study is aimed to highlight the pattern of sexual abuse among secondary school adolescents in Rivers State.

METHODS

The study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey carried out among secondary school adolescents in Port Harcourt Metropolis in Rivers State in 2014. Multistage sampling was employed to recruit study participants. A semi structured pretested self-administered questionnaire was used to obtain necessary information on socio-demographic characteristics of participants and the pattern of sexual abuse. Discretion of information obtained was guaranteed. SPSS version 20 was used for analysis. Bivariate analysis was by Chi square test while test for association between two subgroups was by odd ratio, the level of significance was put at P < 0.05.

RESULTS

1298 adolescents participated in the study, 462 (35.6%) had experienced sexual abuse. The victims consists of 176(38.1%) males and 286 (61.9%) females. (c² =12.02, p = < 0.001). Gender was significantly associated with penetrative (p= 0.006, OR=1.74, CI=1.15 -2.64) and contact with no penetrative ( p=<0.001 , ROR= 2.42, CI= 0.26-0.64) forms of sexual abuse. Adult males were the major perpetrators with adolescents themselves constituting 33.1% of the perpetrators. 33% of the perpetrators were family acquaintances while family members and classmates constituted 20.6% and 22.7% of the perpetrators respectively, with house helps accounting for 18.0% and teachers 3.0 %. About fifty percent of the abuse occurred at the victim's residence.

CONCLUSION

Sexual abuse of minors is prevalent in Port Harcourt. The perpetrators are mainly adult males known to the victims. Child perpetrators are not uncommon, with the victims experiencing various forms of sexual abuse. Interventional program designed to create awareness to the public on the enormity of sexual abuse of children is needed so as to arm guardians, parents and even the children on how to prevent such crime.