Preventing Child Sexual Abuse: The Role Of Guidance And Counselling Program In Junior High Schools In The La Nkwantanang Madina Municipality

Abstract

Over the years, the prevalence of child sexual abuse of students has been a concern to governments and stakeholders. A UNICEF (2020) report states that the prevalence rate of child sexual abuse of students around the world ranges between 15 to 25% for girls and 5 to 17% for boys. In recent years, there have been alarming concerns following an upsurge of reported cases of child sexual abuse of students within the La Nkwantanang Madina Municipality. This phenomenon has become an enormous problem for parents, teachers, and policymakers within the Municipality. Considering the above, this research explores the role of guidance and counselling in Junior High Schools established to prevent child sexual abuse in schools in the La Nkwantanang Madina Municipality. Following the ecological systems theory propounded by Urie Brofenbrenner (1979), this research explored child sexual abuse prevention based on the interconnectedness of human development and its environment. The study employed a phenomenological qualitative research design in exploring students' knowledge based on sexual abuse and guidance and counselling. In addition, the study investigated the support services available to the guidance and counselling unit, factors militating against the use of the guidance and counselling program in preventing child sexual abuse, and strategies that they adopt to prevent child sexual abuse particularly in schools. A sample size of 26 participants comprising 15 Junior High School students and 11 key informants were utilised for the study. An interview guide was designed for data collection. Using a thematic analysis by Braun and Clarke, the findings revealed that students' level of knowledge on child sexual abuse is limited to unconsented sexual activity by adults. Many of the students had little knowledge of guidance and counselling units in their various schools. The findings further revealed that the guidance and counselling program receives support from other stakeholders such as NGOs and Health Practitioners in the form of collaborations to organize sensitization programs on preventing child sexual abuse in schools. The study also identified lack of financial support, parental neglect, negative social media content on sexual and the non-allocation of guidance and counselling activities as a subject on the timetable of Junior High Schools in the La Nkwantanang Municipality as some of the factors militating against the use of guidance and counselling as a strategy of preventing child sexual abuse. The study, recommends that the Ghana Education Service directorate in the La Nkwantanang Municipality should direct schools to capture Guidance and Counselling on the timetable of schools, require in-school guidance and counselling facilitators to possess relevant professional qualifications, direct in-school guidance and counselling facilitators to have regular engagements with students, appoint school social workers to work in the guidance and counselling units of schools and overall provide the in school guidance and counselling facilitators with the financial resources and logistics to enable them provide students the requisite education in order to nib child sexual abuse in the bud among Junior High Schools in the La Nkwantanang Municipality.