Peer-reviewed article
Instruments for Measuring Knowledge, Attitudes, and Skills in Preventing Sexual Violence against Children: Scoping Review
Yogi Hasna Meisyarah, Rindani Claurita Toban, Destria Fithrotul Aziizah, Sri Hartini, Fitri Haryanti ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This scoping review identifies and synthesizes measurement instruments used to assess knowledge, attitudes, and skills related to preventing sexual violence against children. The review examines multiple instruments across different populations, including those designed for children with intellectual disabilities. The CKAQ, SAQ, and WIST emerge as the most frequently used instruments for measuring knowledge, attitudes, and skills respectively in sexual violence prevention efforts. The work highlights the importance of measuring prevention-focused competencies as part of efforts to protect children from sexual abuse.
Key points
- The CKAQ is the most frequently used instrument to measure knowledge of sexual violence prevention and has been translated into multiple languages
- An Illustrated Scale Measuring the Sexual-Violence Prevention Knowledge and PSQ are specialized instruments for measuring prevention knowledge in children with intellectual disabilities
- The SAQ is the most frequently used instrument to measure attitudes toward sexual violence prevention
- The WIST is the most frequently used instrument to measure skills in preventing sexual violence against children
- Between 2005 and 2022, at least 16,000 children experienced violence related to rape, forced marriage, and sexual exploitation according to UNICEF data
Limitations
This is a scoping review of measurement instruments rather than an evaluation of prevention interventions. It cannot provide evidence about which prevention strategies are most effective at reducing sexual violence against children, only which tools are available to measure relevant knowledge, attitudes, and skills.
Abstract
ABSTRACTMillions of girls and boys in the world experience abuse and exploitation every year. The UNICEF data reported that between 2005 and 2022 at least 16,000 children experienced violence related to rape, forced marriage, sexual exploitation, and other forms of violence. Sexual violence against children can have long-term adverse effects on the physical health, social life, and psychological well-being of the victims. One of the efforts that can be made to protect children from the effects of sexual violence is to increase knowledge about the concepts and skills in preventing sexual abuse. This article aims to identify instruments to measure knowledge, attitudes, and skills regarding the prevention of sexual violence against children found in various literatures. A scoping review was conducted to synthesize this research. The CKAQ has been the most frequently used instrument in the prevention of sexual violence against children and has been translated into various languages to measure knowledge of prevention of sexual violence against children. An Illustrated Scale Measuring the Sexual-Violence Prevention Knowledge and PSQ are instruments that can be used to measure knowledge of the prevention of sexual violence against children with intellectual disabilities. This research has found that the SAQ has been the most frequently used instrument to measure attitudes on the prevention of sexual violence, while the WIST has been the most frequently used instrument to measure skills in preventing sexual violence against children.Keywords: instruments, knowledge, attitudes, skills, the prevention of sexual violence