Abstract

VELEZ, Claudia Marcela; HENAO, Paula Andrea; ORDONEZ, Federico  and  GOMEZ, Luz Elena. Evaluation of a self-protection behavior promotion programme to prevention of child sexual abuse, Medellin, Colombia. Revista médica Risaralda [online]. 2015, vol.21, n.1, pp.3-8. ISSN 0122-0667.

Introduction: In Colombia, child sexual abuse is a growing problem. In 2011, Legal Medicine Institute held 22.597 medical evaluations for alleged sexual offences, 87% of all victims were children and adolescents. In this study, a child sexual abuse prevention program was developed and the change in knowledge of self-protection behaviors of children between 5 and 14 years of age was evaluated. Materials and methods: This is a quasi-experimental study. The study population was constituted by children of public schools of Medellin. The 13-item questionnaire called Test of Prudence from the Non-Governmental Organization Save the Children was used. The independent variables analyzed were child’s age, scholar grade, and school; the dependent variable was the test score. In the statistical analysis, a matched mean difference was calculated for each question, and for the total test, the statistical hypothesis testing was the McNemar Chi-square. Results: The average score in the questionnaire before the program was 10.96 and after its implementation 11.96, t test and McNemar test were statistically significant with a p-value 0,001. Conclusions: The school program was effective to improve the score in the Test of Prudence.

Keywords : Child sexual abuse; sexual harassment; prevention and health promotion.

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