n Child Abuse Research in South Africa - Emerging issues in research on school-based sexual abuse prevention programmes

Abstract

School-based sexual abuse prevention programmes were originally developed in the United States during the 1970s in response to prevalence findings which indicated extremely high rates of victimisation. This paper examines available literature on school-based prevention programmes in order to address three fundamental questions : (a) Are prevention programmes effective in reducing the incidence of sexual victimisation, (b) do prevention programmes have harmful side-effects, and (c) is a child-focused approach to primary prevention appropriate? The paper concludes with a critical evaluation of the relevance of available programmes for prevention efforts in the South African context.