Effect of a Sexual Abuse Prevention Program on Children’s Knowledge About Abuse

Background: Parents play a vital role in their children's lives in terms of protecting them from sexual abuse. Child sexual abuse (CSA) education improves parents knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Therefore, this study aimed to assess whether sexual abuse prevention programs for parents affect children’s knowledge about abuse. Methods: The sample of this quantitative quasi-experimental research consisted of 108 parents and 109 children. Data were collected using the personal security questionnaire and parental perception questionnaire. The parents were asked to complete the parental perception questionnaire (PPQ) and then received the “sexual abuse prevention program”. At the end of the training program, the PPQ was completed again. The personal safety questionnaire (PSQ) was administered to the children before and after the training program without any intervention. Results: The parents' ages ranged from 28 to 35 years. All parents held a bachelor’s degree and worked in different jobs. In addition, education did not appear to affect the knowledge levels of the children, although it created a significant difference in the parents’ perception (x̄ =4.00, P<0.05). Conclusion: Education not directly provided to children is ineffective. It is believed that, as primary caregivers, parents who possess accurate information about protection from sexual abuse can develop an awareness of abuse prevention and inform and support their children accordingly.