Gender and personal safety sensitization in schools: A qualitative inquiry into response practices to children's disclosures of sexual abuse.

Background: Schools provide opportunities to educate children on health and safety and encourage disclosures of difficult experiences. Policies and response mechanisms for disclosures are critical in the impact of preventive programs.

Aim: To understand school policies and practices for disclosures of child sexual abuse (CSA).

Method: A school-based program on gender, sexuality, and personal safety was implemented in 162 schools between June 2022 and February 2024. The program addressed health, safety, boundaries, help-seeking, gender, sex, love and attraction, and decision-making. It encouraged children to discuss difficult experiences. A standard operating procedure was followed for responding to health or psychosocial issues, focusing on emotional support, avoiding retraumatization, and activating child protection mechanisms. School response practices were observed through extensive field notes maintained during the program implementation.

Results: The program reached 21,234 students. There were 44 instances of CSA disclosure. Fifteen were high-risk disclosures (recent/proximity to alleged perpetrators/poor psychosocial support). A report was shared with the school/child protection system for further action. There were challenges noted in organizing appropriate responses to children's health and psychosocial needs at all levels. Schools lacked uniform policy and were unfamiliar with the state and national level provisions for child protection. Schoolteachers conveyed invalidating, disbelieving, and evasive attitudes toward children's disclosures, and there was no existing coordination between schools and the child protection system.

Conclusion: Despite national and state level child protection policies, ground realities of response to CSA are highly deficient. Implementation of sexuality education programs, planned in several national endeavors, would be contingent upon school readiness and intersectoral collaborations.