Pubertal and child rights awareness, communication, and protection against sexual abuse among the 10-14 year- old children in Jinja primary schools Uganda: challenges, opportunities and effectiveness of a school based intervention

Abstract

Background: Puberty has both negative and positive effects on a growing child. Every year, a new cohort of learners in primary schools reaches puberty. Understanding it, communicating it, and protecting children against sexual abuse and exploitation are all very important. Methodology: Guided by pragmatism and an exploratory sequential design, we conducted: -19 FGDs with the children, 8 FGDs with parents and 10 Paired interviews conducted with SW/MTs to explore their pubertal and child rights awareness, communication, child protection, challenges and opportunities; 6 IDIs were conducted with district officials; and 7KIIs with the line ministries to establish the contemporary pubertal issues; and then we did content- thematic -analysis. We also did Randomized Control Trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of a school-based intervention to enhance pubertal and child rights knowledge among children. Intervention and comparison schools’ mean scores at baseline and end-line were compared using the Paired t-test, and a one-way ANOVA test to determine NIE. Results: Children are mainly aware of visible body changes. Menstrual cramps and lack of pads are some of the challenges faced by girls, while body size and odour challenge boys. Teachers’, parents’ and friends’ advice, school rules and prefects were the navigational opportunities. Poverty, insufficient collaboration and counselling skills, among parents and teachers negatively affect pubertal communication and child protection. Intervention schools registered increased knowledge on pubertal changes and children rights among children especially those from predominantly peasant parents. Boys aged 10 and 11 showed significant improvement in their knowledge levels (t = 2.024; p<.05) and (t = 2.024; p<.05), by NIE of 2.5 and 2.11 respectively. Conclusions: Personal experiences impact pubertal awareness and child protection. A school-based intervention can, thus, increase pubertal and child rights knowledge. There is therefore a need for specialised training and development of instructional materials for SM/WTs.