Prevention of child sexual abuse in the United States: Scoping review of United States legislative policies.

BACKGROUND: States in the United States (US) have passed and enacted legislation for the purpose of preventing child sexual abuse (CSA) since 2000, but it is unknown whether these legislative policies reduce adult-perpetrated CSA. OBJECTIVE: Review the literature from 2000 to 2023 to understand which US CSA prevention policies have been evaluated, the effectiveness of these policies, study populations, and barriers and facilitators associated with the implementation of CSA prevention policies. METHODS: The study protocol was published prior to undertaking the review: PMC10603531. The review follows Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and is reported according to the PRISMA-ScR Checklist. We searched 27 databases, hand searched reference lists of included studies, and sent notice via listserv to other researchers in the field. Articles were included if the content focused on CSA prevention policies and the effects. No limits to methodology were applied. Methodological rigor was assessed. RESULTS: 2209 potentially relevant articles were identified; 20 articles advanced to full-text review, three satisfied the inclusion criteria. Three eligible studies focused on CSA prevention education policies, while the other focused on mandated reporting policies. Effects of these policies were mixed in relation to CSA reporting and substantiation rates. No study considered child demographics. CONCLUSIONS: Despite decades of legislative action for CSA prevention across the US, only a few studies have assessed the effects of these policies. These findings highlight the need for additional research to ensure that CSA prevention policies such as CSA prevention education in schools and mandated reporting practices are working as intended.

Child Sexual Abuse in the United States: A Commentary on Current Policy Approaches to Prevention and Aspirations for the Future.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a significant threat to the health and well-being of children in the United States (US). Public policies are a key public health strategy for the primary prevention of violence, including CSA. In 2021, the Enough Abuse Campaign and Prevent Child Abuse America published a comprehensive report entitled A Call to Action for Policymakers and Advocates: Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Legislation in the States to encourage state leaders to create a comprehensive strategy to prevent CSA in the US. Findings from the report show that the nation has made some effort to address CSA, but more focus needs to be given to primary prevention strategies that stop it from occurring in the first place. The report also illustrates the variability of CSA prevention policies across the US and highlights critical gaps in current approaches that must be addressed. In the spirit of the special issue, the authors reflect on key policy issues in the field, including the lack of a federal policy framework for CSA prevention, dedicated funding for the prevention of CSA, and research on the effectiveness of policies intended to prevent CSA. Suggestions for future directions in relation to policy development provided in this commentary will be useful to a variety of stakeholders interested in the topic of CSA prevention policy.

Advancing Child Sexual Abuse Prevention in Schools: An Exploration of the Effectiveness of the Enough! Online Training Program for K-12 Teachers.

Child sexual abuse (CSA) in schools and educator misconduct represents a threat to the safety and well-being of our children. The Enough! Preventing Child Sexual Abuse in My School program is a 1-hour online training course developed to address the problem of sexual misconduct and CSA in K-12 education via the use of two avatars/teachers who are navigating CSA and misconduct in their schools. One hundred and thirty-four teachers from three school districts participated in a study to examine the effectiveness of the program in terms of knowledge awareness, including prevalence rates, types of CSA behaviors, impact of CSA on children, signs and symptoms, reporting responsibilities and responses to suspected abuse. Participants were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups: the intervention group (A) received the Enough! training and completed a pre-/posttest and an evaluation of the training (n = 61), Group B (control) completed the posttest only (n = 55), and Group C (control) completed both the pre- and posttests (n = 18). Results indicated that the intervention group's knowledge was significantly higher than that of the control group's at posttest. Group A participants reported a high level of satisfaction in the training, as well as increased knowledge, awareness and willingness to take action in the future. This study points to the need to further test the effectiveness of the Enough! program (and programs like it) on a wider-basis in an effort for educators to be better prepared to protect from the threat of CSA and sexual misconduct.

The Enough Abuse Campaign: building the movement to prevent child sexual abuse in Massachusetts.

This case study describes the Enough Abuse Campaign, a multidisciplinary, statewide effort to prevent child sexual abuse in Massachusetts. The study uses the Institute of Medicine's Framework for Collaborative Community Action on Health to provide a systematic description of the campaign's process of implementation, which includes: (a) developing a state-level infrastructure for child sexual abuse prevention, (b) assessing child sexual abuse perceptions and public opinion, (c) developing local infrastructures in three communities and implementing training programs focused on preventing perpetration of child sexual abuse, (d) facilitating changes in local communities to child-sexual-abuse-related systems, and (e) inviting Massachusetts residents to join an advocacy-based movement to prevent child sexual abuse. This case study concludes with future directions for the campaign and topics for future research related to child sexual abuse.