ABSTRACT

Disclosing child sexual abuse (CSA) is a necessary first step to access the legal, health, and psycho-social services that survivors and their families need. However, disclosure rates are low: of young women who experienced CSA in Zimbabwe, only 9% disclosed the first incident. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and describe perceived barriers to disclosing CSA in Zimbabwe. We conducted focus group discussions with children aged 10–14 years (n = 40) and their parents/caregivers aged 20–62 years (n = 40), participating in an intervention trial in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe. We found that potential retaliation against survivors and their families is a major barrier to disclosing CSA. These retaliatory acts, which we refer to as “re-victimization,” arise from stigma or the victim feeling blamed or doubted and manifest through physical violence, emotional violence, and deprivation of family life and education. Our findings suggest that addressing social and cultural norms related to sex and strengthening legal protection for CSA survivors and their families could encourage CSA disclosure and could help end this violence. Our findings also highlight a need to increase children’s awareness of their rights and to create safe systems for disclosure of sexual abuse.

摘要

披露儿童性虐待 (CSA) 是获得幸存者及其家人所需的法律、健康和社会心理服务的必要第一步。然而，披露率很低：在津巴布韦经历过 CSA 的年轻女性中，只有 9% 披露了第一次事件。这项定性研究的目的是探索和描述在津巴布韦披露 CSA 的感知障碍。我们与 10-14 岁的儿童 (n = 40) 及其父母/照顾者 20-62 岁 (n = 40) 进行了焦点小组讨论，参与了在津巴布韦奇通维萨的一项干预试验。我们发现对幸存者及其家人的潜在报复是披露 CSA 的主要障碍。这些报复行为，我们称之为“再次受害，”源于耻辱感或受害者感到受到指责或怀疑，并通过身体暴力、情感暴力以及剥夺家庭生活和教育表现出来。我们的研究结果表明，解决与性相关的社会和文化规范并加强对 CSA 幸存者及其家人的法律保护可以鼓励 CSA 披露并有助于结束这种暴力。我们的调查结果还强调需要提高儿童对其权利的认识，并建立安全的性虐待披露制度。