An Educational Program for Mothers Regarding Protection of Their Children from Sexual Abuse in Early Childhood

Background: child Sexual abuse is a serious problem that can affect any child regardless of gender, race, or age. Young children are ideal victims; who could not protect themselves because of limited mental and physical development. Aim: evaluate the effect of educational program for mothers regarding protection of their children from sexual abuse in early childhood. Design: A qausi-experimental design was utilized. Setting: The study was conducted in Cairo governorate Subjects: 235 mothers who attend to the selected (MCH) Tools: Data were collected through: An interviewing questionnaire to assess mothers’ and child demographic characteristics, child sexual history, and assessment questionnaire to assess mothers’ knowledge, attitude, and reported practice. Results: The results of the current study showed that,7.2% of mothers had satisfactory level of knowledge pre-program that improved to 93.2% post program, also 54.5% of mothers had positive attitude pre-program that improved to 94% post program. In addition, 3.8% of mothers had adequate practice pre-program that improved to 86% post program. Also, there was highly statistically significant difference in correlation between total score knowledge, attitude and reported practice, pre and post educational program. Conclusion: The educational program was effective in improving the mother’s knowledge, attitude and reported practice regarding protection of their children from sexual abuse in early childhood. Recommendation: This study recommend the need for continues of educational program for mothers regarding protection of their children from sexual abuse in early childhood.