A Comparative Study to Assess the Level of Knowledge Regarding Child Abuse among Working and Non - Working Parents in Selected Geographical Areas of Bangalore with a View to Develop an Information Booklet

Children are physically small, vulnerable and dependent on parents. There has been a substantial increase in the incidence of child abuse. India is home to almost 19 percent of the world's children. Over one - third of the country's population, around 440 million, is below 18 years old. According to the national statistics, 40 percent of these children require care and protection, which indicates the extent of the abuse. The study aimed to compare the knowledge regarding child abuse among working and non - working parents. A descriptive research approach with comparative design was used in this study. The Stratified random sampling technique selected 60 working and 60 non - working parents who met the inclusion criteria. The findings revealed that among the working parents, 50% of them had average knowledge (41 - 60%) and 28.3% of them had poor knowledge (<40%) and 21.7% of them had good knowledge (61 - 80%) regarding child abuse; among the non - working parents, 68.3% of them had poor knowledge (<40%) and 30% of them had average knowledge (41 - 60%) and 1.7% of them had good knowledge (61 - 80%) regarding child abuse. The result of this study showed that the mean percentage knowledge score of working parents (49.8%) was higher than the mean percentage knowledge score of non - working parents (36.33%) regarding child abuse.