O abuso sexual como uma experiência adversa na adolescência: Um inquérito de base escolar em Manaus, Amazonas

Abstract

To investigate the occurrence of sexual abuse as an adverse experience in adolescent students in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Methods: This is a school-based cross-sectional study with adolescents between 12 and 17 years old, composed of public schools in the urban region of Manaus. The population came from 141 elementary II (6th to 9th grade) and secondary schools, with a total of 145.650 students. Based on the sample size, the number of students to be selected per administrative zone is calculated to ensure the weight of the strata. The number of students interviewed per school, is verified from the proportion between students and schools. After calculating the sample size, considering a prevalence of around 0.5%, a sample of 384 students was examined, with a confidence level of 95%. This research was prepared with preliminary data, with a confidence level of 80% and an N of 238. Results: Of the 238 students participating in the research so far, the majority identified themselves as cis women (62.6%), aged between 16 and 17 years old (average of 15; SD±1.58), self-declared mixed race (66.8% ), attending high school (54.6%), never repeated a year (84.5%), never were expelled from school (99.2%). According by the International Questionnaire on Adverse Childhood Experiences, (34.5%) were victims of sexual abuse. (47.6%) who suffered sexual abuse at least once in their lives were mostly over 16 years of age, self-declared cis women (78.0%) and mixed race (67.1%), attending high school (57. 3%), had not repeated a year (85.4%), had not been expelled from school (98.8%), had their own residence (36.6%). In the bivariate analysis, sexual abuse was associated with the variables: gender identity and alcohol use. As for the family structure (51.3%) lived with up to 4 people, with parents and stepfathers (78.0%) as the main breadwinners, these have occupations (85.4%). The age group of those responsible are over 41 years old (49.3%), with high school education (40.2%), do not receive scholarships or assistance from the government (59.8%). Regarding the factors to family structure that are associated with the occurrence of sexual abuse, only the variable living with someone who has been or is in prison was found (p=0.043). Other adverse experiences revealed that in addition to sexual violence, victims had also been involved in situations of child labor (48.8%), domestic child labor (61.0%), emotional abuse (47.6%), emotional neglect (9.8%), physical abuse (37.8%), bullying (75.6%) and urban violence (92.7%). Discussion: Proper identification of sexual abuse against children and adolescents requires, among many other conditions, experience and sensitivity. Therefore, it is important to develop studies and research that characterize the profile of victims of sexual abuse, the aggressor and its associated factors. Final considerations: Although the study deals with preliminary data, it was important to reveal data on sexual abuse in the context of adolescent students in the capital of Manaus and to elucidate specificities surrounding this phenomenon, revealing data about the outcome for use in the multiplication of teachings both for the health area and for education, seeking incentive for improvement in the form of recognition of sexual abuse and support for reporting cases to increase the visibility of sexual abuse as a health problem and consequently improve case reporting.