Child Sexual Abuse: Knowledge, Myth Belief and Reporting Attitude among the General Population in Kerala

Despite a public health concern, ample myths and gaps in society’s understanding of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) exist. Not many studies have examined how these myths and knowledge affect CSA reporting attitude (RA). Consequently, this study aimed to address the research gap among the general populace in Kerala. From 170 respondents, the findings indicated more myth belief(MB) among the less educated, males, and joint family members. On the contrary, those with a degree or more than a degree showed more knowledge and females exhibited more RA. A negative correlation was found between CSA MB and RA and Gender, age, knowledge, and MB predicted a 21.8% variance in the RA. MB regarding CSA was found to be an important mediator in the relationship between Knowledge and RA. Reasons that could account for these results and implications are also discussed.