Knowledge, Attitude, Preparedness and Perception of Pocso Act Among Third Year Medical Undergraduate Students at Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital, North Karnataka

Abstract

BACKGROUND

The tragedy of child sexual abuse is a worldwide problem that exists among both developed and developing countries. The most vulnerable groups in society for sexual abuse are children.Though the child is the most important asset of society,the child sexual abuse has become an emerging issue and national sensation day by day. In regards to this problem, a special law has been enacted named as Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012. This law amended in order to protect the rights of children.

OBJECTIVES

1. To assess the knowledge, attitude and preparedness/perception among undergraduates about the POCSO Act 2012.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This was an observational, cross-sectional, and questionnaire-based study. Data was collected from willing participants among the undergraduates of Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences, Bidar using google forms. Data was entered into the Microsoft Excel sheet. The statistical analysis was carried out using Microsoft Excel 2021.Categorical data was presented as numbers and percentages, while continuous data was presented as mean ± standard deviation.

RESULTS:

In this study 130 undergraduate students have participated. The questionnaire consisted of 17 questions about the POCSO. In the knowledge aspect 42 have scored <80% and 88 have scored > 80% about POCSO.  94.6% participants think that medical students need to be trained to handle a POCSO case. 63.8 % believes that fear of social stigma is the biggest barrier preventing people from reporting CSA.

CONCLUSION:

From this study we observe that the upcoming young doctors had adequate knowledge and positive attitude towards the POCSO cases. Although teaching young children about appropriate and inappropriate touch starts in the primary grades, CSA can be reduced by increasing the awareness among the local community to make the healthier environment for the children.