MRC PhD students

Level of study: MSc

Title: Exploring the factors that influence disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse. 

Project summary:
Child sexual abuse (CSA) is considered to be an enormous problem in South Africa.  It is estimated that on average nearly 20 000 girl children report sexual assault to the police each year.  The true magnitude of CSA is however unknown due to it being a hidden problem compounded by non-disclosure by the child and under-reporting by parents due to lack of access to the police. More importantly social factors influence families decisions to report child rape and not much is known about this in South Africa. 

This thesis stems from a broader study which was aimed at developing an understanding of children’s psychosocial needs post rape and to determine the extent to which the existing services meet the needs of both the child and their primary caregiver. The study was designed as a longitudinal follow-up study, interviewing both the child and the caregiver shortly after presentation at the sexual assault centre.  Study participants were recruited via Similela and Karl Bremer which are both dedicated rape survivor centres in the Western Cape.  Girl children between the ages of 8 to 17 years were recruited into the study.  CSA survivors and their caregivers were followed-up from point of contact for a 6 month follow-up period. In depth-interviews were used with carers, while semi-structured interviews and screening tools were used with the children to asses psychological symtomotology. Data gathered during the interviews with both the child and their caregiver showed how issues of disclosure had an enormous effect on the parent/child psychosocial adjustment post rape. This study will provide data that could feed into the development of effective services for children that are raped.   

Supervisors: Naeemah Abrahams
Study Institution: University of Cape Town
MRC Unit: Gender & Health Research Unit