Child sexual abuse (CSA) is common, severe, and substantively contributes to the global burden of disease through its impact on physical, mental, and behavioral health problems. While CSA is preventable through non-justice system response efforts, the vast majority of resources support criminal justice efforts to identify, prosecute, punish and monitor offenders after CSA has already occurred. Policy makers have not supported CSA prevention efforts in part because the public does not view CSA as a preventable public health problem. Here, we describe a program of research to be conducted to bridge the gaps between expert and public opinion about CSA as a preventable public health problem. We propose such research use a three-step approach to alter the way experts communicate about CSA to increase audiences’ understanding of CSA as preventable. The three steps are: 1) identify consensus expert and public perspectives about CSA and the differences between these perspectives; 2) develop and test communication strategies to align public with expert perspectives; and 3) broadly disseminate validated communication strategies. Through this approach, we seek to develop and disseminate an informed communications strategy that effectively and accurately translates the science of CSA prevention to the public and the media.

儿童性虐待 (CSA) 很常见、很严重，并且通过其对身体、心理和行为健康问题的影响，极大地加重了全球疾病负担。虽然 CSA 可以通过非司法系统的应对措施来预防，但绝大多数资源支持刑事司法工作，以在 CSA 发生后识别、起诉、惩罚和监控犯罪者。政策制定者不支持 CSA 预防工作的部分原因是公众不认为 CSA 是一个可以预防的公共卫生问题。在这里，我们描述了一项研究计划，旨在弥合专家和公众关于 CSA 作为可预防公共卫生问题的看法之间的分歧。我们建议此类研究采用三步法来改变专家关于 CSA 的沟通方式，以提高受众对 CSA 是可以预防的理解。这三个步骤是：1）确定专家和公众对 CSA 的共识观点以及这些观点之间的差异； 2）制定和测试沟通策略，使公众与专家观点保持一致； 3) 广泛传播经过验证的沟通策略。通过这种方法，我们寻求制定和传播知情的沟通策略，有效、准确地向公众和媒体传播 CSA 预防的科学知识。