Sexual Abuse in School Environment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Case of Uvira Town, South Kivu Province

Abstract

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of sexual abuse, to determine the teachers’ share and give expression opportunity to the victims. The assumption was that young girls are victims of sexual assault in schools. A questionnaire was distributed to undergraduate students of 3 colleges between February and May 2018 to assess the abusive sexual experiences of childhood, the age of the victim, the type of abuse perpetrators and the opinion of the victims. 277 students voluntarily agreed to participate with 263 respondents (94.9%). 76.8% reported sexual abuse during their schooling, 30% before the age of 16, the average age was 13. Sexual abuse involved 12% of rape, 15% of attempted rape, 36% of sexual touching and 14% of insistent solicitation. 50.5% of sexual abusers were teachers, 33.7% of schoolmates, 13.3% of school headmasters and 2.5% of school principals.   Among 86, 1 % of extra-curricular abuse, 56% was intra-family mainly perpetrated relatives, and 67.8% extra-familial in which 57% perpetrated by friends.  Among 45.2% of girls who had given in to the abusers, 39.5% was for gifts and money, and 37.7% for the promise of marks and 26.8% for fear of sanctions. To end to the phenomenon, 86% of girls had suggested the education of boys to respect women, 81% to promote denunciation, 74% to punish the perpetrators, 47% to end the amicably arrangement and for 32% the castration of rapists. These results confirm the initial hypothesis and call for the introduction of a program to prevent sexual abuse in schools.