Examining the Realities of Child Sexual Abuse in Ghana

Abstract

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is a global public health concern. It is considered a crime in most countries in the world. CSA has a devastating and long-term adverse effect on the child, family, community, and the nation. Child sexual abuse involves any kind of sexual activity to which children are subjected, especially by someone who is responsible for them or has power or control over them, and who they should be able to trust. The statistics of CSA are alarming and vary across countries. In Ghana, there is evidence that CSA is on the increase, despite several efforts by Governmental and Civil Society Organizations to address this menace. The paper undertakes a contextual analysis of the realities of CSA, with a special focus on socio-cultural, legal, and health perspectives to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the situation of CSA in Ghana. The paper concludes that an appropriate understanding of the complexities and realities of CSA could contribute to a stronger stakeholder collaboration for comprehensive and multi-sectorial intervention strategies to address the problem of CSA in Ghana. Keywords: Child sexual abuse, socio-cultural, contextual analysis, Ghana