Assessment of Knowledge and Attitude about POCSO Act among Medical Interns: A Questionnaire based Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37506/hvpzys06Abstract
Background: The issue of child sexual abuse is a worldwide problem that exists among both developed as well as
developing countries. The most vulnerable groups in society for sexual abuse are these children. The number of
incidents involving child sexual assault is rising alarmingly.
Material and Methods: It is across sectional questionnaire based study from February 2023 to July 2023 comprising
of 100 medical interns (50 males and 50 females) conducted at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, A.M.U, Aligarh,
Uttar Pradesh.
Results: In this cross sectional study, 100 medical interns comprising of 50 males and 50 females participated.
The questionnaire consisted of 10 multiple choice questions about the POCSO Act.76% of medical interns knew
what the acronym POCSO Act means. The age of child under POCSO Act was known to 82% participants. 71%
participants were aware that POCSO Act is gender neutral.
Conclusion: Although teaching young children about appropriate and inappropriate touching starts in the
primary grades, CSA can be reduced by increasing knowledge and awareness in the local community. The cases
of child abuse in India require a holistic approach from every member of society.
References
Urosevich K. Insights in public health: It takes a Hui to raise a child: A case for peer-to-peer support for child abuse prevention. Hawai'i Journal of Medicine & Public Health. 2013 Oct;72(10):365.
Foster JM, Carson DK. Child sexual abuse in the United States: Perspectives on assessment and intervention. American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. 2013 Jul 26;1(3):97-108.
Goodman GS, Quas JA, Ogle CM. Child maltreatment and memory. Annual review of psychology. 2010 Jan 10;61:325-51.
Putnam FW. Ten-year research update review: child sexual abuse. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2003; 42(3):269–78.
Irish L, Kobayashi I, Delahanty DL. Long-term physical health consequences of childhood sexual abuse: A meta-analytic review. Journal of pediatric psychology. 2010 Jun 1;35(5):450-61.
Maniglio R. The impact of child sexual abuse on health: A systematic review of reviews. Clinical psychology review. 2009 Nov 1;29(7):647-57.
Choudhry V, Dayal R, Pillai D, Kalokhe AS, Beier K, Patel V. Child sexual abuse in India: a systematic review. PloSOne. 2018 Oct 9;13(10).
Kadu S, Shinde A, Mhaske SN. Assessment of Knowledge and attitude about POCSO Act amongst Medical Practitioners. Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 2021;14(4):407-412.
Seth R, Srivastava RN. Child Sexual Abuse: Management and prevention, and protection of children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. IndPediatr. 2017 Nov 1;54(11):949-53.
Yasvanth S. A Study of Awareness of POCSO Act 2012 amongst faculty of Private Medical College at Chennai. International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology. 2019;4(11): 253-6.
Singh MM, Parsekar SS, Nair SN. An epidemiological overview of child sexual abuse. J Family Med Primary Care. 2014Oct;3(4):430.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en