Primary School Teachers Knowledge, Attitudes And Practice On Sexual Violence Among Their Pupils

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of knowledge, attitudes and practices on sexual violence amongst primary school teachers: a case study of Dandora primary schools in Nairobi. The specific objectives were to find out the level of knowledge of sexual violence amongst teachers in Dandora primary schools in Nairobi, to establish the attitude on sexual violence amongst teachers in Dandora primary schools in Nairobi, to find out the practices undertaken by teachers to address sexual violence in Dandora primary schools in Nairobi. This study utilized a descriptive cross-sectional survey research design. The population for this study consisted of the primary school teachers in Dandora Primary Schools in Nairobi Eastland. The primary schools included Dandora One primary, Ushirika Primary, Tom Mboya primary, Wangu Primary, and James Gichuru Primary. This made a total target population of 141. This study adopted census sampling technique to identify the respondents. Therefore, all the 141 respondents comprised the sample size of the study. A questionnaire was used to collect primary data. The questionnaire comprised of questions, which sought to answer questions related to the objectives of this study. The data for the study was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The data collected was keyed in and analyzed with the aid of SPSS. The Quantitative data generated was subjected to the descriptive statistics feature in SPSS to generate mean, and standard deviation which were presented using tables, frequencies and percentages, while Qualitative data consist of words and observations, not numbers. The study found that teacher possesses adequate knowledge on sexual violence among pupils. The possession of information was attributed to the fact that they had been trained on matters to deal sexual violence among pupils in primary school. The study found that the various types of child abuse included physical abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, and sexual abuse. The study found that the cases of sexual violence are high and no single day passes without a report of an assaulted child. The media report cases of assaulted children in primary school. They have attributed this to the lack of the children ability to protect themselves from the perpetrators of the acts and the fact that the perpetrators are family members. The study concluded that the child may suffer from physical injuries as the perpetrator uses force to abuse the child. The study found that most children who encounter sexual violence in school or out of school do not have appropriate support services. The reason attributed to this is that in most cases people are not willing to get involved in such cases. The study concluded that the increasing awareness of the long lasting and detrimental consequences for experiencing sexual victimization in school setting have increased the need for establishing anti-violence and anti-bullying preventions programs to protect students’ well-being. This study has indicated that knowledge level of primary school teachers is very high regarding sexual violence among primary children. This is a positive sign that a very important group of caregivers is well aware of rights of children. The study recommended that this knowledge power of primary school teachers should be utilized by Government Agencies and Non-Government Organizations to launch awareness campaigns in other influential groups in the society.