Safe touches: A comparison of the effects of a child sexual abuse prevention program between children of different grades and ses

Abstract

Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is an alarming worldwide phenomenon, with high prevalence rates. Prevention programs (CSAPPs) have been developed and delivered in schools. "Safe Touches" is a prevention program delivered in students in the U.S. with results indicating significant improvement of knowledge regarding CSA. This paper compares the effectiveness of Safe Touches on 91 participants of schools of Attica, Greece, of different age and SES. Results indicated significant knowledge gains, and significant difference in knowledge gains between kindergarteners/ first graders and third grades, consistent with other research. No significant difference was found in knowledge gains of children of different SES, in contrast with other CSAPPs, indicating effectiveness of the program in all SESs. No previous research was conducted on the effectiveness of Safe Touches on children from different SES and research on different age groups is limited. Further research is suggested in order to generalize conclusions.