Sexual Abuse of Young Children in Southern Africa

In this volume, experts including service providers, therapists, childrens advocates, and the research community summarise and evaluate the problem of the sexual abuse of prepubescent children in southern Africa. It is the first attempt to synthesise southern African research, treatment and policy literature on the topic. The book confronts the realities of sexual abuse, and its representation in the press. It presents the main findings concerning the individual, socio-economic and sociocultural correlates of sexual abuse, and covers legal and policy responses to the problem. It also presents accounts of interventions drawn from South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Professor Linda Richter is the Executive Director of the Child, Youth, Family and Social Development Research Programme. She holds a Chair in Psychology and is an elected Fellow of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She is an Honorary Professor in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of the Witwatersrand, a consultant in the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), and an Honorary Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne.

Andrew Dawes obtained his Master of Science degree cum laude from the University of Cape Town. He is a Director in the Child, Youth, and Family Development research programme at the Human Science Research Council, and an associate professor in Psychology at the University of Cape Town. He has extensive research experience in applied developmental psychology and has produced three books and more than 100 journal articles, book chapters and conference papers. His main research interest include the impact of violence and abuse on children (including children in armed conflict), and violence prevention.

Craig Higson-Smith obtained his Masters degree in Research Psychology cum laude from the University of Natal. He is currently a director of the South African Institute for Traumatic Stress and runs a private consultancy. At the time of writing, Craig was a senior research specialist in the Child. Youth and Family Development research programme at the Human Science Research Council. Craig has worked extensively in the field of youth and violence as a researcher in community-based organisations. His ongoing work focuses on resilience to repeated traumatic exposure in the South African Police Services and innovative approaches to violence prevention and trauma care.