Reporting likelihood and teacher responsiveness to child sexual abuse in the Bojanala district

Abstract

National crime statistics show that child sexual abuse in South Africa, as in other countries, is very high and still on the increase. Instructed by section 54 (1)(2) of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2015 (Act No 5 of 2015), which amended the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, (Act No 32 of 2007), teachers, among others, are mandated to report cases of child sexual abuse. Therefore, over and above knowledge that teachers need to report, they need to have an attitude of responsiveness regarding the reporting of sexual abuse. The aim of this project was to establish whether there is a relationship between the knowledge, attitude and training of teachers (teacher responsiveness) and actual reporting rates from the reporting and non-reporting schools (school preparedness) in the Bojanala District, of child sexual abuse. Schools were selected from within the geographical area of the Bojanala District. The researcher followed a quantitative-descriptive approach in this study. The researcher used a cross-sectional survey and made used of non-probability purposive sampling methods to select the research respondents. The key finding in this research is that the teachers from both the reporting and the non-reporting schools have adequate knowledge and training related to child sexual abuse and the reporting thereof. The determinant factor in the reporting of child sexual abuse is the attitude that the schools and the teachers adopt. Three recommendations are prominent: that future studies should focus on programmes and intervention that could be developed to support the change in teachers' attitudes related to their reporting role in child sexual abuse; that the Department of Education and Sport Development should investigate the need for the employment of qualified school social workers; and that a qualitative study should be undertaken in the schools to establish whether there is an existence of a non-visible culture/attitude in schools that could ensure that the teachers report child sexual abuse to the authorities.