Child Sexual Abuse Conference in Africa Offers Research and Strategies for Prevention

Stop It Now! staff and international partners presented at the Second International Conference in Africa on Child Sexual Abuse in Accra, Ghana on March 13, 2012. The plenary and workshop presentations were titled“Culturally Informed Partnering for Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Across Continents.”

Panelists included:

Dr. Carol Plummer, Associate Professor, University of Hawaii and project research consultant
Laura Carolina Baldrich Mejía, Gerencia Cartagena, Corporación para la Atención Integral de la Niñez (Corpolatin), Colombia
Folake Modupe Bankole, Snr. Victim Advocate, Media Concern Initiative for Women and Children, Lagos, Nigeria
Tom Omwenga, Executive Director, Child Aid Organization Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
Sarita Hudson, who leads the international program for Stop It Now!

The presentation included an introduction to the Stop It Now! approach to preventing child sexual abuse, and the results of self-study analysis, focus group research, and prevention activities implemented by NGO partner organizations from Colombia, Nigeria and Kenya. Special emphasis was placed on the vital importance of understanding cultural attitudes and context before determining a specific strategies and pathways for prevention or intervention activities.

Following the workshop, a discussion by Tom Omwenga, Folake Bankole and Laura Baldrich probed the differences that emerged from working on child sexual abuse in their particular context/culture.