Parent Education in Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Programs

Abstract

It is the responsibility of adults to protect children from sexual abuse. Thus, raising parents' awareness is particularly important since they are the ones who take care of the child and support his/her development in every field. Parents need to acquire information from authentic sources in terms of sexual education of children and protection of them from sexual abuse. That parents have limited knowledge on this subject, feel anxious, or do not know how to talk may prevent them from talking to their kids about sexual abuse. Thus, children's awareness about protection is postponed until they enter an educational institute. It may also become difficult for children to talk to their parents in case of possible sexual abuse. Therefore, it is crucial for parents to increase their awareness through training prepared by experts. In these training programs, awareness of parents can be raised about topics like what sexual abuse is, how to approach a child who experienced sexual abuse, creating an intrafamilial safety plan, and intrafamilial open communication. This review study includes issues of what sexual abuse is, the importance of parents in prevention studies, and sexual abuse prevention programs in which parents take part. As a conclusion, it is thought that awareness can be raised about the importance of parents to prevent sexual abuse and what can be included in programs designed for them.

Keywords

• child sexual abuse
• prevention
• parent education