Die rol van die onderwyser ten opsigte van die aanmelding van seksuele misbruik

Abstract

Children spend a lot of their time at school. Teachers are the only other persons apart from the family that have daily contact with children. Teachers can have great influence on the lives of children. If children experience problems at home, they might possibly talk to a teacher about it. Children might disclose sexual abuse to teachers. If children do not disclose sexual abuse, they show symptoms that might be indicators that they are sexually abused. But teachers must have the needed knowledge base at their disposal to identify these indicators. If children disclose sexual abuse, teachers must know how to react on this disclosure. Teachers have a legal obligation to report sexual abuse to the police. To report sexual abuse, teachers must have the knowledge of their legal obligation and of the consequences if they do not report sexual abuse. If a child disclose sexual abuse, there should be a set procedure at the schools to facilitate the disclosure of sexual abuse. The aim of the research was to examine the role of the teacher regarding the disclosure and reporting of sexual abuse. A recording procedure was used to obtain qualitative data. A non-probability sample, and more specifically a random sample was drawn and eight participants were involved in the main study, in which a self-structured interview schedule was used to determine the knowledge base of the teachers of sexual abuse. This interview schedule was used in personal interviews with the eight participants. It is clear from the findings that the knowledge base of teachers regarding sexual abuse is restricted. Teachers do not know how to handle the disclosure of sexual abuse. If the children disclose sexual abuse, there are no set procedures to facilitate the disclosure of sexual abuse. Teachers need more training in the handling of sexual abuse, in order for them to be better equipped to refer the disclosure of sexual abuse.