The Challenges Faced by School Counsellors in the Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse

European Journal of Education Studies, cilt.6, sa.10, ss.245-257, 2020 (Hakemli Dergi)

Identifying and reporting sexually abused children is one of the most important

responsibilities of school counsellors. In this study, we aimed to determine the challenges

of reporting child sexual abuse. We used a questionnaire form that was prepared by

reviewing the literature about reporting sexual abuse. Participants were asked to state

their level of knowledge of child sexual abuse, whether they had encountered such cases,

whether they faced any challenges when notifying to authorities, and the possible

solutions to problems encountered during this process. Of the school counsellors

contacted, 40.9% of the participants stated that they encountered a claim of child sexual

abuse at least once, but the majority of them (47.4%) could not report it to judicial

authorities because of various reasons; such as being unsure whether the event was really

happening, anticipating reactions towards them or school management, and fearing the

school’s loss of reputation in the case of disclosure.