“They Will Use Her as a Proverb”: Exploring Adolescent Leaders’ Perspectives on Barriers to Reporting Child Sexual Abuse in Nigerian Schools

Abstract

Child sexual abuse (CSA) remains critically underreported across sub-Saharan Africa, often due to cultural taboos, institutional mistrust, and fear of victim-blaming. This study explores the perspectives of Nigerian secondary school Senior Prefects—adolescent leaders often entrusted by their peers— on the barriers to CSA reporting and offers culturally relevant recommendations for encouraging disclosure. Sixteen in-depth interviews were conducted with student leaders (eight males and eight females) from eight public secondary schools in Ibadan, Nigeria. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, anonymized, and thematically analyzed using an inductive approach. Six major themes emerged: barriers to reporting CSA, strategies to encourage disclosure, limitations in CSA knowledge and perception, reasons children should report abuse, trusted individuals for disclosure, and factors informing CSA perceptions. Thematic analysis revealed that fear of stigma and shame, lack of trust in adults, emotional manipulation by perpetrators, strained parent–child relationships, and limited knowledge about CSA inhibit disclosure. Most participants viewed disclosure as essential for justice, healthcare, and prevention of future abuse. Suggestions for improving disclosure included increased public awareness, culturally sensitive education, youth empowerment programs, confidential community-based reporting centers, psychosocial support, and ethical media reforms to enhance CSA reporting. Findings underscore the importance of engaging adolescent leaders as stakeholders in child protection and highlight the need for youth-centered, culturally grounded interventions to dismantle disclosure barriers. The study contributes to the growing call for context-sensitive violence prevention strategies in school settings and reinforces the value of peer perspectives in shaping policy and practice.

Keywords

child sexual abuse Nigeria qualitative study adolescent leaders stigma disclosure student perspectives

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