Child sexual abuse prevention – the strategies of protective mothers and fathers: a systematic review

ABSTRACT Child sexual abuse (CSA) is an important ongoing public health and criminal problem. Greater awareness in prevention efforts to protect children has been observed typically focussing on schools to teach children protective behaviors. Limited research investigated parental strategies, which means little is known about techniques parents use to protect their children from sexual victimization. Given the paucity of research to understand the current knowledge about parents’ protective behaviors to prevent CSA, the purpose of this systematic review was to synthesize and analyze studies that reported on parental protective strategies. The review addressed the following research question: What are mothers’ and/or fathers’ strategies in preventing/reducing the risk of their children becoming victimized by CSA? Rigor was ensured using the PRISMA framework and the CASP checklist for quality assessment of studies. Our systematic search of peer-reviewed articles resulted in a total of 16 records to be included in the final analysis. Results indicated that mothers and fathers use a variety of measures to protect their children from the risk of CSA. Strategies include educating children about CSA, monitoring and supervising the children, as well as creating a safe environment. The review concluded that parents play an important role in prevention efforts of CSA and their protective behaviors along with concerns about school-based prevention should be recognized and supported. Further studies are urgently needed to examine and evaluate parental protective behaviors including potential differences between maternal and paternal strategies.