A study on knowledge and prevalence of sexual harassment and abuse among schoolboys in Colombo District

Abstract

Objectives To determine knowledge of sexualharassment and abuse among schoolboys aged 14 to19 years, assess prevalence, frequency and severity ofvarious types of sexual harassment and abuse, assessfrequency of reporting incidents of sexual harassmentand abuse to a trustworthy person, determine reasonsfor non-reporting and determine characteristicsspecific to sexually abused schoolboys.Design A descriptive cross sectional studyMethod Data was collected from 242 schoolboysaged 14-19 years from 2 Colombo district schoolsusing a pre-tested and self-administeredquestionnaire.Results Among the 242 students surveyed, 3.7% hadknowledge on sexual harassment and 31% hadknowledge on sexual abuse. 190 (78.5%) studentshad experienced sexual harassment and 53 (21.9%)had experienced sexual abuse. Commonest type ofsexual abuse was oral sex with a prevalence of 9.5%.10.7% students had been subjected to penetrative sex.Commonest reason for not reporting an incident ofsexual harassment and sexual abuse was fear.Prevalence of sexual abuse was highest in the lowersocial class. Mother working abroad, being separatedfrom both mother and father, not having any reliablefriends were possible risk factors for being subjectedto sexual abuse.Conclusions Prevalence of sexual abuse inschoolboys exceeds global figures. Prevalence ofsexual harassment is on par with global figures.Knowledge on sexual harassment was extremely lowand on sexual abuse relatively low.Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 2004; 33: 9-17(Key words: Knowledge, prevalence, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, schoolboys) doi: 10.4038/sljch.v33i1.661