Study confirms child sexual abuse in some schools

Daily Graphic, pg 11. April 18/09

Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho

A survey conducted by Plan Ghana, a child rights, sexual and reproductive health organisation, has established that child sexual abuse exists in some schools in the Awutu-Senya, Effutu and Upper Manya Krobo districts.
The survey also established that child sexual abuse was intense and widespread mostly in senior and junior high schools in the study areas, with girls being more vulnerable than their male counterparts.
The survey, which was conducted in December 2008 among 198 schoolchildren aged between 10 and 17 in eight schools, made up of six basic schools, one SHS and one JHS, from eight communities in the three districts, showed that 15 per cent of the children had been sexual abused.
Sexual abuse, according to the study, manifested itself mostly in the form of both contact, such as touching, fondling and pinching in a sexual way, and non-contact, such as the sending of sexually motivated messages, request for sexual favours and unwelcome sexual advances.
The survey identified factors such as poverty, sexual pleasure, lack of parental control and care and peer influence as the main causes of child sexual abuse among the respondents indicating that the way and manner children are protected and cared for, both at home and in school was weak.
The study revealed that most children did not feel protected at school, home or places of worship, with majority of respondents believing that they were more safer with their peers while majority of the male respondents believed that girls were more at risk than boys.
The survey showed that girls mostly suffered from request for sexual favours, unwelcome sexual advances or attacks, fondling, touching, pinching and sexual messages given to them at school.
Majority of the victims were also found to be living with their parents, or in boarding schools, or were living alone with their mothers.
The survey further identified that sexual abuse of children was a human rights violation affecting all age groups within the childhood period adding that effects of the phenomenon the children was devastating and have both short and long term consequences.
It further identified that the prevalence of sexual abuse was difficult to determine due to the varied definitions and its sensitive nature which is accompanied by shame and stigma experienced by victims.
According to the survey, while substantial improvements have been made in recent years with regard to the promotion and protection of the rights of children through child-related legislation, there still remained a wide gap between enactment on one hand and implementation on the other.
Although Ghana as a country has many laws and policies that protect the rights and fundamental human rights of children, many children continue to experience sexual abuse from their peers, teachers or people in their communities.
Among these laws are specific chapters such as Chapter Five of the 1992 Constitution which spells out the fundamental human rights and freedoms of all citizens including children.
There is also the Children's Act of 1998 (Act 560) and the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act 1998 (Act 554) which defines various aspects of sexual offences and penal measures for offenders.
Aside these laws protecting children from sexual abuse, the country is also a signatory to other international protocols and conventions which include the UN Convention on the Right of the Child (Article 34, CRC, 1990) which also prohibits child sexual abuse.
However, reports from the Ghana Prison Service’s annual report indicate that nationally a total of 662 people were convicted for defilement in 2007, while the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service also recorded 449 defilement cases in 2007 and 552 in 2008.
In the survey, it was established that 77.8 per cent of 148 male schoolchildren between the ages of 10 and 17 have had forced sex or have been lured to have sex before.
The survey further revealed that, 22.2 per cent of a total of 150 girls within the same age and in the same schools, have also experienced similar sexual encounters with men.
The survey which is a prelude to an advocacy campaign dubbed “Learn without fear”, aimed at creating a safer school environment for children, and it captured a total of 411 people made up of 148 male and 150 female schoolchildren and 30 teachers, 21 parents and nine key informants.
According to the survey, the main perpetrators of sexual abuse were classmates, with 88.9 per cent of respondents saying they had been abused by them; 54.7 per cent was perpetrated by female friends; 36.8 per cent by male friends; 35.9 per cent by neighbours; 20.5 per cent by teachers; 12.8 per cent by relatives, while what was perpetrated by adults in the community constituted 13.7 per cent.
Also 35 per cent of the respondents were said to have been given sexual photographs, while 25.8 per cent said they had had sexually motivated physical contacts.
It further identified that although majority of the victims indicated that they did not like the sexual abuse they experienced, only 30 per cent reported the incident. That meant that 70 per cent did not report their ordeal to anyone, while among those who reported, 45 per cent said they told their friends, 20.2 per cent told their parents, 12.4 reported to their relatives, 7.4 per cent confided in a teacher, only 1.6 per cent was reported to the police, while the remaining 13.6 per cent mentioned traditional authorities, assembly members and health workers in instances where a pregnancy occurred.
The survey further discovered that majority of the abused children (87.2 per cent) did not know of any institution that supports victims of sexual abuse.
Only 12.8 per cent indicated knowledge of such institutions in their communities, with 2.6 per cent of the children identifying the school, 2.6 per cent identified the police, 1.6 per cent identified Plan Ghana and 1.3 per cent identified traditional authorities.
Among its recommendations, Plan Ghana has called for the sensitisation of children and adults to sexual abuse, the strict implementation of policies, the incorporation of child sexual abuse education in school curriculum, the strengthening of institutions at the district level, poverty reduction at the household level, raising the level of school guidance and counselling services, the provision of recreational facilities and the regulation of pornographic materials in the media.