PREVALENCE OF THE CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE IN TURKEY: A SCOPING REVIEW

Abstract

Child sexual abuse (CSA) can occur at different social, cultural, and socioeconomic levels. To handle the phenomenon of CSA healthily and to be able to prevent it, it is necessary to determine CSA’s scope. Therefore, this review examined the prevalence rates of CSA in Turkey. We did a literature review in June- November 2020, searched international and Turkish electronic literature databases (Embase, Medline, PsycInfo, Web of Science, Science Direct, PsychINFO, Google Scholar, and TUBITAK-ULAKBIM National Database), and identified 523 potentially eligible studies. After the inclusion process, fourteen prevalence research were assessed. The results show a prevalence of child sexual abuse between 2.8-32.4%. In addition, it is found that nearly a total of the studies examined are population-based. However, despite the positive aspect of the majority of the population-based studies, the sample size of about one-third of the research is not sufficient. As a result, with this study, various information about CSA prevalence was obtained within the framework of the methodological features of the studies in Turkey. The results highlight the need for more and more large-scale studies regarding the prevalence of CSA in Turkey.