Mexican Mothers Before Child Sexual Abuse: Knowledge, Skills, and Needs for Prevention

Various studies have concluded that parents are the main social actors in protecting children from sexual abuse. The purpose of this study was to explore mothers' knowledge about child sexual abuse (CSA), as well as their skills, and their main needs to identify and prevent it. We conducted an explorative qualitative study. We collected the data using semi-structured interviews with 16 mothers from elementary schools in two states in Mexico. The main results indicate that mothers knew what CSA is, as well as its causes and consequences, but require more training and support in order to identify and prevent it effectively. Most of the participants acknowledged the difficulty they have in discussing sexuality issues with their children and would not know how to proceed in case of CSA, nevertheless they are interested in receiving information because they believe their children could be at risk.