Abstract
Introduction: Child sexual abuse is an extensive health and societal problem as even the lowest prevalence of child sexual abuse includes a huge number of victims who still need to be considered. Africa has the highest prevalence of child sexual abuse yet still with a paucity of literature on the subject matter. Objective: Describe the epidemiological and clinical profile of children victim of sexual abuse reported at the Yaounde Gynaeco-obstetric and Pediatric Hospital (YGOPH). Methods: A hospital based cross sectional descriptive study was conducted from January 1st, 2017 – December 31st, 2019 at the Yaounde Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital. Consultation files were examined and identified cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) recruited. Epidemiological and clinical data of included participants were treated using a pre-established questionnaire. Collected data were entered and analysed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) software version 26.0 with p-values calculated following a one variable binomial sampling. Results: In total, data was assessed from 51,331 pediatric consultation files of which 127 cases of child sexual abuse met our inclusion criteria. The prevalence of child sexual abuse was 0.25%. Most victims of child sexual abuse were of the female gender (92%) from single parenting homes (36.8%) (p< 0.05) within two age groups < 5years (32.9%) and 10-15 years (32.9%). Perpetrators were in majority males (84%) of age ≥18 years (72.4%) and were persons known to the victims (73.7%) who proceeded by taking advantage of the victims’ trust. Vaginal penetration (57.9%) with vaginal lesions (59.2%) were the most encountered cases which were placed on highly active anti-retroviral prophylaxis however with poor clinical follow-up (35.5%) as the patients did not turn-up for their visits. Conclusion: Child sexual abuse though not addressed as a matter of urgency, yet it is a problem with a gradual upward trend in our community most especially as perpetrators are persons we are familiar with. Thus, a call for greater vigilance with regards to the guidance we leave our children with.
Highlights
Child sexual abuse is an extensive health and societal problem as even the lowest prevalence of child sexual abuse includes a huge number of victims who still need to be considered
Child sexual abuse is evidenced by this activity between a child and an adult or another child who by age or development is in a relationship of responsibility, trust or power, the activity being intended to gratify or satisfy the needs of the other person [1]
Perpetrators were persons known to the victims of the abuse 73.7% (p=0.000) and consumers of drugs 50 (65.7%) (Table-2)
Summary
Child sexual abuse is an extensive health and societal problem as even the lowest prevalence of child sexual abuse includes a huge number of victims who still need to be considered. Objective: Describe the epidemiological and clinical profile of children victim of sexual abuse reported at the Yaounde Gynaeco-obstetric and Pediatric Hospital (YGOPH). Results: In total, data was assessed from 51,331 paediatric consultation files of which 127 cases of child sexual abuse met our inclusion criteria. Conclusion: Child sexual abuse though not addressed as a matter of urgency, yet it is a problem with a gradual upward trend in our community most especially as perpetrators are persons we are familiar with. Child sexual abuse is evidenced by this activity between a child and an adult or another child who by age or development is in a relationship of responsibility, trust or power, the activity being intended to gratify or satisfy the needs of the other person [1]
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