The challenges faced by school counsellors in the reporting of child sexual abuse
Date
2020
Journal Title
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Publisher
European Journal of Education Studies
Abstract
Identifying and reporting sexually abused children is one of the most important
responsibilities of school counsellors. In this study, we aimed to determine the challenges
of reporting child sexual abuse. We used a questionnaire form that was prepared by
reviewing the literature about reporting sexual abuse. Participants were asked to state
their level of knowledge of child sexual abuse, whether they had encountered such cases,
whether they faced any challenges when notifying to authorities, and the possible
solutions to problems encountered during this process. Of the school counsellors
contacted, 40.9% of the participants stated that they encountered a claim of child sexual
abuse at least once, but the majority of them (47.4%) could not report it to judicial
authorities because of various reasons; such as being unsure whether the event was really
happening, anticipating reactions towards them or school management, and fearing the
school’s loss of reputation in the case of disclosure.
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Keywords
child abuse, school counsellors, reporting, educators, International Resources, Turkey
Citation
Esin, I. S., Sener, M. T., Dursun, O. B., Asikhasanoglu, E. O., & Secer, I. (2020). The challenges faced by school counsellors in the reporting of child sexual abuse. European Journal of Education Studies.