Children’s Knowledge of Sexual Abuse Prevention in El Salvador

Abstract

Background: Child sexual abuse (CSA) remains a global health problem that must be addressed. In a country with limited resources such as El Salvador, we sought an alternative way to disseminate CSA prevention information to elementary school children. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention exhibit at a children's museum. Methods: We asked 189 children to answer a questionnaire about CSA prevention before entering a museum exhibit on the subject and then asked 59 different children to answer the questionnaire after visiting the exhibit. Findings: Children's knowledge scores on CSA prevention significantly improved after visiting the exhibit ('P' < .012). Conclusions: A museum exhibit that addresses CSA prevention is an effective way of communicating CSA prevention to children.

Keywords

• child
• El Salvador
• prevention
• sexual abuse