Prevalence of Sexual Abuse among Children: A Study among Healthcare Givers at GVRC Nairobi Women’s Hospital, Nairobi County, Kenya

Julia Adhiambo Juma, Ph. D. Candidate in Clinical Psychology & Alice Munene, Psy.D., Daystar University; | Charity Wangui Waltham, Ph.D; James Mbogua, Ph.D. Candidate in Counseling Psychology & Susan Wambui Gitau, Ph.D., Africa Nazarene University, Kenya

Abstract

This study set to establish the prevalence of sexual abuse among children survivors attended to at GVRC Nairobi Women’s Hospital in Nairobi County. Sexual abuse among children is a universal problem and one of the most pervasive human rights violations. Child sexual abuse among children in Kenya has been increasing at an alarming rate in the recent past. Sexually abused children are denied their right to enjoy their fundamental freedom and grow up as normal children in the society. This study was guided by the Traumagenic Dynamic Model of child sexual abuse. The study adopted an explanatory research design where 80 healthcare givers who were purposively sampled participated and document analysis of 4332 children who had been sexually abused in the last two years preceding this study. Data was collected through structured interview guides and document analysis from the hospital records. Piloting was done to establish their reliability and validity. Data was cleaned, coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 23. Descriptive statistics comprising of frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations were used to analyze data and the findings were presented in line with the study objective which were: 1.identify the perpetrators of sexual abuse among children. 2. Explore risk factors that lead to sexual abuse among children. 3. Establish the prevalence of sexual abuse among children. There were 4332 cases of sexual abuse among children out of 7558 cases for the whole population reported in the two years preceding the study, which translates to a prevalence rate of 57.3%. These findings revealed that prevalence of sexual abuse among children attended to at the hospital was high. To this end, 2115 cases were handled in 2015-2016 (48.82%) and 2217 (51.18%) in 2016-2017. This makes a total of 4332 cases handled during the period. Key recommendations from the study included: Need for multi-faceted approach involving key stakeholders to be adopted with a view of reducing the high prevalence of sexual abuse among children survivors; the need for all stakeholders who handle children issues to ensure that stringent measures are put in place for the prevention and control of CSA among the survivors; and the need to change the approaches and engagement of all stakeholders who deal with children by spreading the message that would make the society aware of the alarming rate of CSA in Kenya today.

Keywords: Sexual Abuse, Prevalence, Survivors, Traumagenic Dynamic Model, Multifaceted approach, Stakeholders, Alarming, Violations