A Serious Game to Reduce the Vulnerability of Children in Combating Sexual Violence

Abstract

Child sexual abuse is a big public health problem. This issue brings harm to both the victims and society. Many strategies have emerged worldwide, aimed at protecting the rights of children and adolescents. Among these measures, educational strategies based on games stand out as valuable allies in preventive education and in combating sexual violence. This research focused on the development of a serious game aimed at teaching and learning the prevention of child sexual violence. The game´s evaluation process involved the Pauline Parucker Municipal School. The school allowed a total of 112 (one hundred and twelve) children to participate in the research, however, of these, only 33 (thirty-three) were authorized by their guardians to participate in the study. The sample children was segmented into two groups: control group with (eighteen) children and the experimental group with 15 (fifteen). The experimental group used the game and the control group continued with regular classroom activities. Both groups had their perceptions of abuse prevention measured using the CKAQ instrument. This assessment was conducted before and after the game to identify any advances in prevention practices. The results presented indicate a statistical equivalence between the studied groups. Since the lack of information makes children vulnerable in relation to child sexual violence, low adherence by children is considered a barrier to be problematized by research.