Ethical Issues of Child Abuse-A Cultural Comparison

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a cross-cultural test of the different views of child abuse in different countries, namely the Bahamas compared to Nigeria. The study indicates that although there is a general definition of child abuse, it varies from place to place and one set standard of rules does not apply in every culture, especially in regards to age of consent and age of marriage. Child abuse is a worldwide issue regardless of differences in race, in ethnicity, or culture. This study will compare two countries: The Bahamas and Nigeria a country on the African continent, although the study on child abuse is significant around the world, as there hasn’t been the comparison between these two countries, both being predominantly populated by black people. Therefore, this study examined the differences across a few areas, age of a minor, age of sexual consent, age of marriage, who was more at risk (girls or boys), as well as preventative measures in place to protect children comparing The Bahamas and Nigeria including laws/agencies etc. This cross-sectional study was conducted on school aged children between 14-18 who resided in The Bahamas and Nigeria in 20192020. Study sample size was 200 children and sampling method was random sampling to ensure that there was no sex bias. Data was collected using a standardized paper-and-pencil questionnaire survey. Data was analyzed for mean and standard deviation. The level of statistical significance was set as P<0.05. Out of 200 students 50% were boys and 50% were girls to limit sexual orientation bias. With this size population, there is a 95% chance that the real value is within ±4.89% of the measured/surveyed value using the margin of error calculation. Standard deviation Calculation: 95%, 1.960o. The age of most of the surveyed students was $16 \pm1.24$ $(\pm7.75$%). The mean of the population was 50 and the standard deviation varied for the 10 questions (See Table 3). Overall, the knowledge from the students was a greater percentage for the Bahamas across the board for all questions, more than 50% in most instances. When comparing the two groups, those students from The Bahamas had more knowledge about their countries age of marriage, consent, and even access to information across the ten questions used in the survey. Study findings determined that students in both countries believed that girls were a greater risk than boys for child abuse, both countries had students who were taught about child abuse at school and at home, but since neither had 100% it would mean that there should a strong focus on improving the availability and delivery of information in these countries, and using future studies for determining why this could be so. All survey questions were answered and the students in the Bahamas had a higher proportion of correct answers and knowledge about the survey questions compared to those in Nigeria.