Resumen
Child sexual abuse is one of the main types of abuse still to be
addressed within the field of education, yet the education
system itself can serve as a primary tool for its prevention. A
better understanding of teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about
child sexual abuse will allow us to establish key starting points
from which to utilize the system for prevention. Four hundred
and fifty teachers participated in this study, completing a
questionnaire regarding their knowledge and beliefs about
child sexual abuse. The study revealed that over half the
teachers, 65.3% (n = 294), had never received any type of
training in child sexual abuse education and that the majority
were not familiar with methods of identifying child sexual
abuse, 90.7% (n = 279). Various mistaken beliefs were identified
among the participating teachers, such as pathological
profiles of abusers, that the vast majority of child sexual
abuse implies violent behavior, and that there cannot be abusers
the same age as the victim. These results indicate that
knowledge deficiencies do exist about child sexual abuse
among teachers and highlight the need for training in this
field.