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Engaging Parents in Zimbabwe to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse: A Pilot Evaluation

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Abstract

Data from the Violence Against Children Surveys reveal alarming rates of child sexual abuse (CSA) in sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting the critical need for public health programming to prevent and respond to this issue. This paper describes the results of the Families Matter! Program (FMP) pilot evaluation study conducted in two urban suburbs of Harare, Zimbabwe to measure the effect of a new FMP session about preventing and responding to CSA. FMP is an evidence-based intervention for parents of adolescents designed to promote positive parenting practices and effective parent–child communication about sexual risk reduction and HIV prevention. We applied a pre/post-prospective study design to assess changes in CSA-related indicators such as parental monitoring, parent–child communication about CSA, and ability to respond to instances of CSA. Parents and their children (ages 9–12) enrolled in the study as dyads and participated in two assessments administered via ACASI prior to and three months following the intervention, with 248 dyads completing both assessments. Parents and children reported significantly higher levels of parental monitoring (p < 1.001) and communication about CSA after the intervention (p < 0.001). Significantly more parents also reported conversations with people in their community about CSA (p < 0.001) and knowledge of where to access services if their child was abused (p < 0.001). The pilot evaluation suggests that FMP equipped parents with skills and knowledge to prevent and respond to CSA, and increased communication regarding CSA within communities, further normalizing the need to address and talk about child abuse, CSA in particular.

Highlights

  • Child sexual abuse can have long-term health and developmental impacts and may be associated with risk behaviors related to HIV.

  • Parents and caregivers play a key role in preventing and responding to child sexual abuse.

  • Families Matter! Program (FMP) provides a unique platform to help parents/caregivers develop knowledge and skills to prevent and respond to CSA in Zimbabwe.

  • Youth HIV programming needs to incorporate messaging and interventions to address child sexual abuse prevention and response.

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Funding

This work was supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the terms of Cooperative Agreement # GH000315. The findings and conclusions presented in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the funding agencies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. PHI/CDC Global Health Fellowship; This publication was supported by Cooperative Agreement # NU2GGH002093-01-00 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Public Health Institute, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Sarah Shaw

  2. Division of Global HIV/AIDS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Haddi Jatou Cham, Eboni Galloway & Kim Miller

  3. Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Kate Winskell

  4. Centre for Sexual Health and HIV AIDS Research Zimbabwe (CeSHHAR), Harare, Zimbabwe

    Zivai Mupambireyi & Constance Kasese

  5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Harare, Zimbabwe

    Zwashe Bangani

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  1. Sarah Shaw
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Correspondence to Sarah Shaw.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [Protocol 6816] and the Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Shaw, S., Cham, H.J., Galloway, E. et al. Engaging Parents in Zimbabwe to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse: A Pilot Evaluation. J Child Fam Stud 30, 1314–1326 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-01938-y

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