Lack of Child Sexual Abuse prevention knowledge in China

1590 Words4 Pages

CSA in China

Child maltreatment has been a common social phenomenon throughout Chinese for a long history. Traditionally, Filia piety (xiao) has been leading Chinese family ethical values for thousand years in China, that children are taught the importance of respect and obedience to their parents. With a heavy influence from Confucianism, the Chinese people believe that the family reputation is always more important than the individuals (Minli, Alvin, Amelia, Jun, & Kaishan, 2011). And derived from sexual conservatism, any types of sexual issues are considered as “family shame” and intend to kept secrets within the family (Chen, Dunne, & Han, 2007). Legally, the Chinese government and policy makers have given little interest and efforts to develop a legal protection of child maltreatment since child maltreatment was identified as a social problem in the early 1990s. Unfortunately, Child maltreatment continues to be held as a private family affair beyond public attention (Minli, Alvin, Amelia, Jun, & Kaishan). Consequently, Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) as one of the forms of child maltreatment is also not recognized a problem as serious as the western countries concern. There are two main reasons why the official statics on the prevalence of verified child abuse cases are under reported; one is, the Chinese government doesn’t collect data consistently; the other, Chinese tradition of sexual conservatism and “family face (reputation) is more vital than individual” perception (Yuk-chung, Gladys, & Wan-Chaw, 2010) discourages children from talking about sexual issues openly with their family members, and the family members feel shame to tell anyone else about CSA experiences (Zhang et al., 2013).

Statistics and factors

In reality, ...

... middle of paper ...

...sed study of childhood sexual contact in China: Prevalence and long-term consequences. Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal, 32(7), 721-731.

Minli, L., Alvin Shiulain, L., Amelia C., R., Jun Sung, H., & Kaishan, J. (2011). Child maltreatment in China: An ecological review of the literature. Children And Youth Services Review, 331709-1719. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.04.031

Yuk-chung, C., Gladys L.T., L., & Wan-Chaw, S. (2010). Children's views on child abuse and neglect: Findings from an exploratory study with Chinese children in Hong Kong. Child Abuse & Neglect, 35162-172. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2010.12.001

Zhang, W., Chen, J., Feng, Y., Li, J., Zhao, X., & Luo, X. (2013). Young children's knowledge and skills related to sexual abuse prevention: A pilot study in Beijing, China. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37(9), 623-630. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.04.018

More about Lack of Child Sexual Abuse prevention knowledge in China

Open Document