INTRODUCTION:

Giving birth to a child is a matter of great joy for the parents. The birth of child is itself weaving the aspiration about future. Simultaneously if it is girl child, they feel insecure about her safety. Lots of muse run across their mind that how to protect her from perpetrators and protect under the shell.

When a girl holds her books and put uniform to go to school in the morning, she looks forward to having fun with her schoolmates, learning new skills, exploring the world under the guidance of a thoughtful teacher, and playing games on the sports fields. Or does she? Does she instead fear for her safety, terribly humiliating and violent treatment, and simply hope to get through another day? Schools reflect wider society where they expose many things. The girls in the school suffer the same forms of violence which women suffer throughout their lives that is physical, sexual and psychological. (Amnesty International Publications, 2008)¹

There is an unfortunate silence surrounding the issue of sexual harassment. It is not being discussed or analyzed and it is a misunderstood issue as it is not in the public arena of debate. Sexual harassment was earlier called ‘eve teasing’. Due to the internalized fear of being harassed girls refrain from going out at night or move around in groups after dark and avoid strangers. Whether you are young or middle aged, a homemaker or employed, an activist or student, if you are female then you have internalized defensive strategies when out in public space. It could be in the way you carry yourself, how alert you are in crowds, how aware you are of another’s behavior or how you instinctively carry your bag in front of your chest when in a crowded bus. (Das, R., 2015)²

There are some women who may not have been harassed. But none have escaped the fear of harassment, of being misunderstood or of having been blamed for being provocative. All of us have our own ‘harassment’ stories. It is this loss of freedom of movement, which we resent and would like to overcome. Until the late 1980s, there was no recourse for women as the issue had no name. Feelings of anger, humiliation, fear, loss of confidence and in extreme cases self imposed house arrest and even suicide were the fall outs of sexual harassment. (Ara Johannes and Nandita Gandhi, 2006)³

India is second most populous country in the world and latest Census 2011 reveals that it’s a home to 17% of the world's population. Nearly nineteen percent of the world's children live in India, which constitutes 42 percent (more than one third) of India’s total population and around 50 percent of these children are in need of care and protection. (Mavi K. A. Ijbmas.in,. 2014) A total of 33,098 cases of sexual abuse in children were reported in the nation during the year 2011 when compared to 26,694 reported in 2010 which increased by 24%. A total of 7,112 cases of child rape were reported during 2011 as equated to 5,484 in 2010 depicting a growth by 29.7%. (Dr Kacker, 2007, Behere PB, 2013). India has the world's largest number of CSA cases: For every 155th minute a child, less than 16 years is raped, for every 13th hour child under 10, and one in every 10 children sexually abused at any point of time. (Childlineindia.org.in, 2015). Studies propose that over 7,200 children, including infants, are raped every year and it is believed that several cases go unreported. It is estimated by the government that 40% of India's children are susceptible to threats like being homeless, trafficking, drug abuse, forced labour, and crime. (Iywg.org, 2015).⁴

The first study on CSA in India was conducted by Recovery and Healing from Incest, an Indian non-government organization (NGO) in 1998. Majority (76%) of the participants reported being abused during childhood or adolescence. (Iywg.org, 2015)

According to WHO, one in every four girls and one in every seven boys in the world are sexually abused. Virani (2000) states, the WHO found that at any given time, one of ten Indian children is the victim of sexual abuse. But Lois J. Engel Recht, a researcher quotes studies showing that over 50 per cent of children in India are sexually abused, a rate that is higher than in any other country. (WHO Report)⁵

UNICEF works closely with the Indian government to strengthen systems that can respond to violence. At the community level, UNICEF and its partners work directly with 250,000 adolescent girls in 42 districts across 10 states, with a focus on empowerment of girls to acknowledge and address violence, child marriage, child labour, trafficking and sexual exploitation. (UNICEF). By enacting the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act in 2012, the government of India has taken a significant step in acknowledging and attempting to address the rampant sexual abuse of the country’s children. (Human Rights Watch, 2013)⁶

OBJECTIVES:

Objectives of the study is to

· Develop a tool and planned teaching program on safety measure against sexual harassment.

· Assess the knowledge and attitude regarding safety measure against sexual harassment.

· Administer the planned teaching program on safety measure against sexual harassment.

· Determine the effectiveness of planned teaching program on knowledge and attitude regarding safety measure against sexual harassment.

· Find out the association between the knowledge score regarding safety measure against sexual harassment and their socio demographic variables.

· Find out the association between the attitude score regarding safety measure against sexual harassment and their socio demographic variables.

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS:

H1: There will be significant difference between pretest knowledge and posttest knowledge of adolescent girls regarding safety measures against sexual harassment.

H2: There will be significant association between pretest knowledge with their selected demographic variable.

H3: There will be significant difference between pretest attitude and posttest attitude of adolescent girls regarding safety measures against sexual harassment.

H4: There will be significant association between pretest attitudes with their selected demographic variable.

H5: There will be significant correlation between knowledge and attitude.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

A literature review is a compilation of resources that provide the ground work for further studies.

Review of literature related to sexual harassment:

The WHO (2002) report on violence and health, covering all types of violence and all groups affected by violence. The report estimates 150million girls have experienced forced sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual violence including sexual harassment, abduction, and rape. In regard to school going girls, the report, among other points, states that sexual violence affects school going girls in a number of ways including their physical, psychological, health and educational well-being.⁷

Bairy KL et al, (2015) conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire survey among junior doctors in training and postgraduate students (PGs) of different specialties in a Government Medical College, Tamil Nadu. A convenient sample of 174 subjects took part in the study. The study found that nearly 54(53%) of the men and 35 (48%) of women were subjected to bullying. More than 85(90%) of bullying incidents went unreported. A significant (P<0.0001) percentage of PGs and junior doctors revealed a personality trait towards bully.⁸

Review of literature related to prevalence and incidence of sexual harassment:

Mueller-Pfeiffer C, (2013) conducted study to assess the effects of childhood maltreatment in adult psychiatric patients (N = 287) using self-rating scales and diagnostic checklists. Maltreatment was strongly associated with dissociation. This relationship was observed for all childhood developmental stages and was strongest when the perpetrator was outside the family. Dissociation was more strongly correlated with childhood emotional abuse and sexual harassment than with sexual or physical abuse. Childhood sexual abuse was found to be associated with symptoms of posttraumatic stress. The findings suggest that dissociation is a relatively specific consequence of childhood maltreatment that is largely independent of the familial relationship to the perpetrator or the child's developmental stage.⁹

Norman ID et al, (2013) conducted cross-sectional study was among four hundred and nine medical students from four medical schools in Ghana, by interview method. Researchers also considered if academic and financial dependence would predict either traditional or contra power sexual harassment. The study found that women were 61% more likely to be sexually harassed than men 39%. Sexual harassment negatively affects the victims' health outcome. They found that the traditional form of sexual harassment was prevalent in medical schools in Ghana and that academic dependence predicted attacks.¹⁰

Review of literature related to prevention and management of sexual harassment:

Prajapati R et al, (2013) conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study by using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Out of 404 sample health institutions, 747 health workforce from 375 health institutions were interviewed by using the probability proportionate to size method. The result revealed that nearly 168(23%) of health workers felt some level of insecurity at their workplace. Mostly, doctors felt insecure at their workplace 24(30%) and argued with service users, 26(32.50%). Feeling of security was highest in central region 160(83.30%). Sexual harassment was higher among female health workers [20 (62.5%) and 13(56.5%) respectively]. Only, 230(30.7%) of health workers who suffered from workplace accidents got compensation and treatment.¹¹

Topping J.Keith and Barron G Ian, (2010) conducted a systematic review of effectiveness of “School-Based Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Programs”. They identified that 22 studies meeting the inclusion criteria differed by target population, program implementation, and evaluation methodology. Many studies had methodological limitations (e.g., sampling problems, lack of adequate control groups, lack of reliable and valid measures). However, most investigators claimed that their results showed significant impact in primary prevention (increasing all children’s knowledge or awareness and/or abuse prevention skills). There was little evidence of change in disclosure. Researcher summarized that there was limited follow- up evidence of actual use and effectiveness of prevention skills, and the evidence for maintenance of gains was mixed. Several programs reported some negative effects.¹²

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

Research Approach:

The research approach adopted in this study was Quantitative evaluative approach as the researcher aimed to assess the effectiveness of planned teaching programme on knowledge and attitude regarding safety measure against sexual harassment among adolescent girls so Pre - experimental approach is used.

Research Design:

The investigator has employed the experimental research design that is “one group pre- test, post- test design”. This design was found appropriate for the study as it intended to assess the effectiveness of planned teaching programme on knowledge and attitude regarding safety measure against sexual harassment among adolescent girls.

Instrument:

The tool was constructed to assess the knowledge and attitude of adolescent girls regarding safety measures against sexual harassment. In this way three tools were used:

1. Socio demographic variables

2. Self-structured questionnaire on knowledge regarding safety measure against sexual harassment

3. Self- structured questionnaire on attitude regarding safety measure against sexual harassment

Data collection:

Prior written permission was obtained from the concerned authority. Informed consent obtained from the participants. The data was collected from Government Girls Inter College. Total 94 students were selected but only 80 students were available for post- test. Consecutive sampling technique was used for the selection of samples. The data was collected through self- structured questionnaire.

Table-1: Frequency and percentage distribution of socio-demographic variables

S. N.	Demographic variable		Frequency	%
1.	Age	a) 13- 15	39	48.75
1.	Age	b) 16- 18	41	51.25
2.	Education status	a) 9^th ^- 10^th class	7	8.75
2.	Education status	b) 11^th -12^th class	73	91.25
3.	Type of family	a) Nuclear family	55	68.75
		b) Joint family	25	31.25
		c) Single parent family	0	0
4.	Place of residence	a) Urban	78	97.5
4.	Place of residence	b) Rural	2	2.5
5.	Occupation of father	a) Government job	7	8.75
		b) Private job	27	33.75
		c) Unemployed	4	5
		d) Other	42	52.5
6.	Occupation of mother	a) Housewife	77	96.25
		b) Government job	0	0
		c) Private job	2	2.5
		d) Other	1	1.25
7.	Family income per month	a) ≥32050	7	8.75
		b) 16020-32040	6	7.5
		c) 12020-16019	0	0
		d) 8010-12019	13	16.25
		e) 4810-8009	7	8.75
		f) 1601-4009	21	26.25
		g) ≤ 1600	26	32.5
8.	Previous knowledge regarding safety measure against sexual harassment	a) No	16	20
		b) Television	52	65
		c) Radio	4	5
		d) Newspaper	16	20
		e) Internet	7	8.75
		f) Other	0	0

RESULT:

The data was tabulated analyzed and interpreted using inferential and descriptive statistics methods.

Table-1 shows the demographic profile of the respondents. Major findings indicated that 51.25% adolescent girls belong to age group of 16- 18years. Majority of adolescent girls i.e. 91.25% were studying in class 11^th and 12^th. Higher percentage of girls 97.5% were residing in urban area. Regarding occupation of mother of adolescent girls, most of them 96.25% were housewife. According to Kuppuswamy’s socio-economic status scale (2012), the data revealed that majority of 58.75% of adolescent girls belong to lower socio-economic class and 16.25% of adolescent girls belong to middle class. It was identified that only 20% adolescent girls were not having previous knowledge regarding safety measures against sexual harassment, while 80% were having different source of information i.e. Television (65%), Radio (5%), Newspaper (20%), Internet (8.75), in which adolescent girls were having information from more than one or from one source only.

Table-2: Comparison of pre-test and post-test knowledge scores N=80

Knowledge Score

Range

Mean ± SD

Mean

Difference

t-value

Pretest

7-18 (11)

12.112 ± 2.258

5.3125

14.85**

Post test

10-23 (13)

17.425 ± 2.268

“t” table value of (79) at p<0.05 is1.9905 **highly significant

Table-2 illustrates the comparison between pre-test knowledge and post- test knowledge score by using ‘t’ test of parametric test. The presented data shows that the mean post-test knowledge scores were higher than the mean of pretest knowledge scores. The ‘t’ value obtained was 14.85, which was significant at p<0.05 level. Mean pretest knowledge scores was computed 12.11 and mean post-test knowledge scores was computed 17.42 which was significantly higher than that of their mean pretest knowledge score. Hence the score predict the significant difference between the mean of pretest and post-test at p<0.05 level. So the research hypothesis was accepted indicating the gain in knowledge because of intervention provided to the samples.

Table-3: Comparison of pre-test and post-test attitude scores N=80

Attitude Score

Range

Mean ± SD

Mean

Difference

t-value

Pretest

16-36 (20)

28.862 ± 3.991

1.288

2.1938**

Post test

20-36 (16)

30.15 ± 3.4135

“t” table value of (79) at p<0.05 is 1.9905 **highly significant

Table-3 illustrates the comparison between pretest attitude and post-test attitude score by using ‘t’ test of parametric test. The presented data shows that the mean post-test attitude was higher than the mean of pretest attitude. The ‘t’ value obtained was 2.19, which was significant at p<0.05 level. Mean pre-test attitude was computed 28.8 and mean post-test attitude scores was computed 30.15 which was significantly higher than that of their mean pretest knowledge score. Hence the score predict the significant difference between the mean of pretest and post-test at p<0.05 level.

CONCLUSION:

The study concluded that the planned teaching programme on knowledge was an effective method of providing knowledge regarding safety measure against sexual harassment while there was only little change in attitude. Findings of the study showed that knowledge and attitude score of adolescent girls was less before the administration of the planned teaching programme. This study has a great implication in nursing practice, education, research and administration. The result of the study shows the great need for the health personnel to educate the boys, adolescents girls and community regarding sexual harassment and modes of prevention. Study can be done on parents and school teachers, as main stakeholder for awareness raising campaign and risk behaviour assessment. The study was confined to small sample size which imposes a limitation on generalizations. On the basis of findings, it is recommended that a similar study can be replicated on large number of participants.

RECOMMENDATION:

The study can be replicated on large sample for generalization of findings.

A descriptive study can be conducted to assess the knowledge and attitude of adolescent girls.

The comparative study can be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention on knowledge of adolescent regarding preventive measures against sexual harassment.

The boys can be included as study sample.

Study can be done on parents and school teachers, as main stakeholder for awareness raising campaign and risk behavior assessment.

Sensitize NGO sector and civil society on child sexual abuse.

REFERENCE:

1. Amnesty.ie (2008), SAFE SCHOOLS: Every girl’s right Stop Violence Against Women. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.ie/sites/default/files/report/2010/04/Safe%20schools-Every%20girl's%20right-pdf.pdf

2. Das, R. (2015). Sexual Harassment at College Level-An Ongoing Gender Issue : A Study on Some Colleges of Purba Medinipur under Vidysagar University. Retrieved from http://file:///C:/Users/Shri%20Hari/Downloads/5ESSJuly-2364.pdf

3. Arajohannes, (2011). A Study on Sexual Harassment in Colleges in Mumbai: An Executive Summary. Retrieved from https://arajohannes.wordpress.com/.../a-study-on-sexual-harassment-in-c

4. Iywg.org, (2013). Breaking the Silence: Child Sexual Abuse in India | Interagency Youth Working Group. Retrieved from https://www.iywg.org/resources/breaking-silence-child-sexual-abuse-india

5. Geneva: World Health organization , Child maltreatment. updated 2014, Retrieved from http://www.who.int/topics/child_abuse/en/

6. Human Rights Watch,. (2013). Breaking the Silence. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/02/07/breaking-silence/child-sexual-abuse-india

7. WHO (2002) World Report on Violence and Health. Geneva: World Health Organization.Retrieved from, www.ungei.org/

8. Bairy, K., Thirumalaikolundusubramanian, P., Sivagnanam, G., Saraswathi, S., Sachidananda, A., and Shalini, A. (2007). Bullying among trainee doctors in Southern India: A questionnaire study. Journal Of Postgraduate Medicine, 53(2), 87. http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0022-3859.32206

9. Mueller-Pfeiffer C e. 2013 “Characteristics of child maltreatment and their relation to dissociation, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and depression in adult psychiatric patients”- PubMed - NCBI . Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23686156

10. Norman ID e. 2013 “Sexual harassment in public medical schools in Ghana.” - PubMed - NCBI . Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24391228

11. Prajapati R e.2013 Perception of security by health workforce at workplace in Nepal. - PubMed - NCBI . Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24362604

12. Topping J.Keith and Barron G ,2010 “School-Based Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Programs : A Systematic Review” springer journal of family violence(online), 25(7): 651–659. retrieved from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10896-010-9324-6

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16. Franklin Chiemeka Agukwe. Proposing a System Termed Call for Evidence to curb Sexual Harassment Problems in Schools. Research J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 8(2): April- June, 2017, 229-243.

Received on 04.02.2022 Modified on 07.03.2022

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2022; 10(4):289-293.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2660.2022.00067