Openbaarmaking van seksuele misbruik gedurende jong volwassenheid

Abstract

Child sexual abuse has long term effects on a person who has been sexually abused as a child, and it can stretch into his or her young adulthood years. It is thus important to give attention to the necessary support systems available to young adults who were victims of child sexual abuse. By estimating to whom these victims are prepared to disclose the abuse, the necessary characteristics can be identified for effective disclosure. With the combined quantitative and qualitative research design the researcher focused on second and third year students from North-West University (Potchefstroom campus) as participants for the study. A purposive sampling has been done in order to obtain participants for the study and self-constructed, group administered questionnaires were handed out to the participants. The explorative research design is used in order to obtain more information on the topic at hand, as there is limited information available and little research has been done on the topic in South Africa. The goal of the study was to determine which support systems should be made available to child victims of sexual abuse, in order for them to disclose sexual abuse earlier in their life so that they can receive the necessary help for the trauma that they have experienced. The findings indicated a clear necessity for awareness of child sexual abuse and the existing support systems that are in place to help victims of child sexual abuse. Recommendations regarding the contents and further research are derived from the findings of the study. The use of awareness programs is essential to keep the community up to date with the dynamics of child sexual abuse.