PARENTAL UNDERSTANDING AND APPROACH REGARDING GOOD AND BAD TOUCH AMONG PARENTS OF SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN AT CIVIL HOSPITAL, HYDERABAD

Abstract

Background: Child sexual abuse is an important child protection concern. Parents play a central role in teaching children body safety, recognizing unsafe situations, communicating concerns, and adopting protective behaviours. However, limited evidence is available regarding these parental domains in the Pakistani context. Objectives: The study aimed to assess parents’ awareness regarding good and bad touch, recognition of warning signs of unsafe touch, communication with their children, and protective practices related to child safety. Methodology: A hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 210 parents of children aged 6–12 years working at Civil Hospital Hyderabad. Participants were selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected using a self-developed, structured questionnaire covering awareness, recognition, communication, and protective practices. Results: Parents demonstrated satisfactory awareness (19.74 ± 3.41) and recognition (19.51 ± 3.23). Mean communication and protective practice scores were 16.51 ± 3.37 and 16.66 ± 3.10, respectively. Awareness was strongly correlated with recognition (r = .680, p < .001) and weakly with communication (r = .365, p < .001). Communication was positively correlated with protective practices (r = .349, p < .001), whereas awareness was not significantly correlated with protective practices (r = .116, p = .094). Gender and professional designation were significantly associated with communication and protective practice levels. Item-level findings identified important gaps: 68.1% of parents disagreed that bad touch could be committed by relatives, and 56.2% reported never encouraging their children to disclose inappropriate touching. Conclusion: The study concludes that parents possessed a reasonable foundation of awareness and recognition regarding child sexual abuse prevention; however, this knowledge did not consistently translate into protective communication and practices. The findings emphasize that effective child protection requires more than awareness alone. Parent-focused interventions should strengthen recognition of abuse by familiar persons, communication and disclosure skills, confidence in responding to children's concerns, and consistent protective behaviours. Family centred educational programmes involving parents, schools, and healthcare professionals may therefore contribute to more effective and sustainable child sexual abuse prevention.