Childhood Experiences of Physical, Emotional and Sexual Abuse among College Students in South India

Abstract

Objectives: To document the prevalence of physical, emotional and sexual abuse during childhood among college students.

Methods: The study was conducted among college students of Puducherry, South India. Stratified random sampling was done to select colleges. Data were gathered using the adapted 'Ministry of Women and Child Development Questionnaire on Child Abuse for Young adults'.

Results: A total of 936 college students completed the questionnaire. Mean ± SD age of the participants was 19.2 ± 1.1 years. Half (48%) of the participants reported being mocked because of their physical appearance. In all, 56% (524/936) of the participants reported that they were beaten during their childhood, of which 13.4% (70/524) required medical treatment. Around 10% reported someone exposing his/her private parts to them, while in 6.4% of the cases, the perpetrator forced the study participants to expose their private parts.

Conclusions: Emotional, physical and sexual abuse is common in childhood and demands prompt interventions at the familial, community and political levels.

Keywords: South India; child abuse; emotional; gender; physical; sexual.