Influence of socio-cultural practices amongst the Venda speaking people towards the disclosure of child sexual abuse

Abstract

Child sexual abuse is a social and health issue that occurs across cultures globally. The central concern to it is disclosure. Children and their caregivers do not easily disclose or report child sexual abuse due to a variety of influences. This study was qualitative in nature and its aim was to explore the influence of socio-cultural practices amongst the Venda speaking people towards the disclosure of child sexual abuse. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants who possess intensive knowledge of Venda culture. Data was collected from fifteen (15) participants through the use of semi-structured in-depth interviews which were guided by an interview schedule with open ended questions. This study has used both ecological and socio-cultural theories to zoom into the nature of child sexual abuse and socio-cultural practices which have an influence in disclosing this social and health phenomenon in Venda.

The findings show that Venda speaking caregivers have contradictory knowledge with regard to what constitutes child sexual abuse. Traditionally, caregivers are assigned the duty of taking care of children, therefore, it becomes difficult to draw a line between abuse and traditional duty. Forceful sexual intercourse, pornography and sexual grooming, and sexual violence were acknowledged as child sexual abuse. The findings of this study have shown that disclosure of child sexual is dependent on the social and cultural contexts within which people live. It was found that disclosure hardly occurs because of fear of bringing shame into the family name and its dignity. The findings also show that socialisation of children inevitably brings social gender-role expectations that make it difficult for male children to disclose their sexual abuse experiences for fear of being perceived to be more feminine than masculine. Children learn from initiation schools to be strong and brave. This makes it difficult for disclosure of child sexual abuse to take place.

Cultural norms of secrecy inhabits disclosure to take place amongst the Venda speaking people because of fear of being reprimanded. The findings have shown that disclosure hardly takes place because of lack of child-parent open discussion about sex related matters. Child-perpetrator relationship was found to determine viii

disclosure. It is difficult to disclose intra-familial child sexual abuse for fear of dividing the family. The study also revealed that because of the patriarchal system, the majority of women do not disclose child sexual abuse because they are afraid of losing financial support as they mostly depend on their husbands financially. It is therefore recommended that awareness campaigns be continuously conducted with the aim of capacitating the Venda speaking people with in-depth knowledge with regard to child sexual abuse and its disclosure. Caregivers should work to improve relationships with their children. Schools should improve programmes that educate children about sexual matters. Different stakeholders should work together to bring about the environment that enables women to participate in the economic sector so that they can be financially dependent. This is because it was found that disclosure of child sexual abuse can be inhibited due to their financial dependency to their husbands. Community dialogues could also be helpful in shifting the mindset associated with gender roles and social expectations.