DISCLOSING CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN THE ABLEKUMA CENTRAL SUB METROPOLIS OF THE GREATER ACCRA REGION OF GHANA

ABSTRACT Child sexual abuse, a very disturbing problem in the society is on the increase in the Ghanaian society; hence the child is not protected by those he/she trusts. The research aims at delving through the types of child sexual abuse, the causes and the effect of child sexual abuse. It also aimed at looking for what motivates disclosure, patterns of disclosure and what prevents disclosure. The study was limited to 70 respondents. The target population for the study comprised sexually abused children, parents of sexually abused children and in- school guidance coordinators. The samples consist of 30 sexually abused children, 30 parents of sexually abused children and 10 in-school guidance coordinators. Purposive sampling technique was used to select respondents. Questionnaire and interview was used to collect data for the study. Data collected was edited, coded and analysed using Statistical Package for Service Solution (SPSS). The result was presented in frequencies and their corresponding percentages while others were presented in narrative form. The results obtained show that many children do not disclose and for the few who disclosed, disclosure was mainly delayed. The researcher found out that child sexual abuse has become a scary situation to children, however disclosing their ordeal has become very difficult .Such children are deprived of trust, affection as well as security. The study recommended that children should be well informed on the forms of abuse to enable them differentiate between what is an abuse and what is not an abuse.