Awareness of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) and POCSO Act: A Cross Sectional Study in Eastern India

Abstract

Child sexual abuse has a great link to deleterious consequences and the highest priority lies in being aware of current response systems and reporting mechanisms, and strict implementation of prevention laws. The study attempted to assess the awareness of Child Sexual Abuse and the POCSO Act among middle school children. A stratified random sampling recruited 125 children aged between 10 and 16 years. Only 43.2 % had adequate awareness regarding Child Sexual Abuse and the POCSO Act and 56.85% were inadequate in their awareness level. The unadjusted binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the odds of possessing better awareness of child sexual abuse was 1.7 times (95% CI: 0.7 – 4.4) among 10 to 12 years and 8.7 times (95 CI: 2.5 – 29.6) higher for those who were in the age group of 13 to 14 years and 15 to 16 years respectively. Females had 2.8 times (95% CI: 1.3 – 5.8) higher odds of having adequate awareness. Children studying in 7th and 8th standard had 2.8 times (95% CI: 1.3 – 5.8) higher odds of having adequate awareness. Our findings highlight the importance of improving children's awareness of Child Sexual Abuse and the POCSO Act for a safe and better future.