Effect of Training Program Regarding Assertive Behavior on Knowledge in Prevention of Sexual Abuse among Adolescent Girls in Selected School, Puducherry

Sexual abuse or violence against adolescent girls is defined as a situation in which children adolescents are used for the sexual pleasure of an adult or older adolescent which ranges of petting, fondling of private parts or a sexual exploitation, voyeurism, pornography, exhibitionism, pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities, incident exposure of private parts, etc., with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to intimidate or groom the child . Sexual abuse can happen anywhere – and it can happen in person or online. It's never a child's fault they were sexually abused – it's important to make sure children know this. Assertive behaviour helps individuals feel better about themselves by encouraging them to stand up for their own basic human rights, which have equal representation for all individuals. So it is essential for girls to be assertive in standing against the abuse. METHODS: One group pre and post – test design was adopted in this study. The study was conducted at St. Dominic Savio Higher Secondary School, Puducherry. Study participants were adolescents between 12 to 14 years of age studying 7 th to 9 th std. Total Enumerate sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Sample size was 66. The tool used for data collection was Self structured knowledge


Introduction
The Sexuality is a word we use to talk about how we understand our bodies and how we understand our relationships and includes all aspects of who we areour values and beliefs, bodies, desires, relationships, gender and our thoughts and feelings about all of these.Because our sexuality is made up of so many different components, our understanding of our own sexuality is ever-changing and unique to each person.The most important thing to understand about sexuality is that it is self-defined; that is, that every person is allowed to talk about and understand their own sexuality in their own way that makes sense to them. [1]buse is any behaviour that results in mistreatment of another and is designed to control and subjugate another human being through the use of fear, humiliation, verbal or physical assaults.There are five major kinds of abuse.They are emotional, physical, spiritual, social and sexual. [2]exual abuse or violence against adolescent girls is defined as a situation in which children adolescents are used for the sexual pleasure of an adult or older adolescent which ranges of petting, fondling of private parts or a sexual exploitation, voyeurism, pornography, exhibitionism, pressuring a child to engage in sexual activities, incident exposure of private parts, etc., with intent to gratify their own sexual desires or to intimidate or groom the child . [3]ssertive behaviour helps individuals feel better about themselves by encouraging them to stand up for their own basic human rights, which have equal representation for all individuals.However, along with rights come an equal number of responsibilities, and part of being assertive includes living up to these responsibilities.Assertive behaviour increases self-esteem and the ability to develop satisfying interpersonal relationships.Thus, there is a need to assess assertive behaviour response of adolescent girls towards sexual abuse.Sexual abuse has a profound impact on core aspects of emotional, behavioural, and physical health and social development throughout life.So it is essential for girls to be assertive in standing against the abuse. [4]

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
A study to assess the effect of training programme regarding assertive behaviour on knowledge in prevention of sexual abuse among adolescent girls in selected school, Puducherry.

OBJECTIVES
1. To assess the level of knowledge on assertive behaviour in prevention of sexual abuse among adolescent girls.2. To determine the effect of training program regarding assertive behavior on knowledge in prevention of sexual abuse among adolescent girls 3. To find out the association between the pre test level of knowledge on assertive behavior in prevention of sexual abuse among adolescent girls with the selected demographic independent variables.• Email: editor@ijfmr.comIJFMR240113337 Volume 6, Issue 1, January-February 2024 3

HYPOTHESES H1 :
There is significant difference in the level of knowledge on assertive behaviour in prevention of sexual abuse before and after the training program.H1 : There is significant association between the pre-test level of knowledge regarding assertive behaviour in prevention of sexual abuse among adolescents with their selected demographic variables.

MATRIALS AND METHODS
Quantitative research study was adopted in this study.The study was conducted at K.S.P Higher Secondary School and St. Dominic Savio Higher Secondary School, Thattanchavady, Puducherry.Study participants were adolescents between 12 to 14 years of age studying 7 th to 9 th standard.Total enumerate sampling sampling technique was used to select the study participants.Sample size was 66.
The tool used for data collection was Self structured knowledge regarding sexual abuse and assertive behaviour in prevention of sexual abuse.

TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES:
Tool 1: Demographic variables include age, religion, education of father, education of mother, occupation of father, occupation of mother and monthly family income.Tool 2: Structured Knowledge Questionnaire: It contains Section -A (Knowledge regarding sexual abuse) and Section -B (Knowledge regarding assertive behaviour in prevention of sexual abuse) by having 10 questions in each section.Each question has 4 options in which one option is correct and other three options were wrong.In both section, each correct answer caries one mark, wrong answer carries zero mark, the possible maximum score is 20 and minimum score is 0.

DESCRIPTION OF INTERVENTION
 Participants who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were selected by Total Enumerate Sampling technique. Study participants were gathered and informed consent and assent form was obtained from the participants after explaining the purpose of the study followed by pre-test (Demographic data and Structured knowledge questionnaire) was conducted. Training programme on assertive behaviour in prevention of sexual abuse was provided for 4 days. After two weeks of Training programme, post-test was conducted for the same participants using the same tool.  1 shows that equal proportion of adolescent girls 22 (33.3%)belongs to the age group 12, 13 and 14 years to represent each age equal number of participants were selected.Most of them 52 (78.8%) were Hindus.26 (39.4%) of father were educated up to the level of high school.31 (47.0%) of mother were educated up to the level of primary school.Mostly 61 (92.4%) of father were employed.Majority of mother 36 (54.5%) were employed.Greater part 22 (33.3%) of them has the monthly family income of Rs. 30001 and above.

SECTION B: LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE REGARDING ASSERTIVE BEHAVIOR IN PREVENTION OF SEXUAL ABUSE OF ADOLESCENT GIRLS
(n = 66)

Figure 1: Level of knowledge regarding sexual abuse and assertive behavior in prevention of sexual abuse
Figure 3 shows the percentage distribution of the level of knowledge regarding assertive behavior in prevention of sexual abuse among adolescent girls.Pre-test scores of adolescent girls on sexual abuse showed that 60 (90.9%) had poor knowledge and 6 (9.1%) had good knowledge, whereas pre test scores of adolescent girls on assertive behavior in prevention of sexual abuse showed that 57 (86.4%) had poor Poor Good Excellent knowledge and 9 (13.6%) had good knowledge and none of them had excellent knowledge on assertive behavior in prevention of sexual abuse.Post -Test 7.12 1.23 7.50 8.00 -6.00 * = Significant Table 2 shows that there is significantly increase in the post test level of knowledge regarding sexual abuse as compared to the pre-test level of knowledge at p < 0.05.Post -Test 6.68 1.32 7.00 8.00 -5.00 * = Significant Table 3 shows that there is increase in the post test level of knowledge regarding assertive behavior in prevention of sexual abuse as compared to the pre-test level of knowledge at p < 0.05.

SECTION D: ASSOCIATION OF PRE-TEST LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE ON ASSERTIVE BEHAVIOR IN PREVENTION OF SEXUAL ABUSE AND SELECTED DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES. Table 4: Association of pre-test level of knowledge on sexual abuse and selected demographic variables
(n = 66) ** = Not significant Table 4 shows that there is no statistical significant association between the pre-test level of knowledge regarding sexual abuse and selected demographic variables like age, religion and occupation of father at the level of p > 0.05.There is statistical significant association between the pre-test level of knowledge regarding sexual abuse and selected demographic variables like education of parents, occupation of mother and monthly family income at the level of p > 0.05.

** = Not Significant
Table 5 shows that there is no statistical significant association between the pre-test level of knowledge regarding assertive behavior in prevention of sexual abuse and selected demographic variables like age, religion, occupation of parents and monthly family income at the level of p > 0.05.There is statistical significant association between the pre-test level of knowledge regarding assertive behavior in prevention of sexual abuse and selected demographic variables like education of parents at the level of p > 0.05.

CONCLUSION
The study was done to assess the effect of training programme regarding assertive behaviour selected in a school, Puducherry.The data was collected among 66 school going adolescents.Intervention was given for days.Collected data was analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics.The study findings revealed there was statistical significant difference in pre and post-test level of level of knowledge on sexual abuse and assertive behaviour in prevention of sexual abuse.Hence it was concluded that training programme regarding assertive behaviour has increased the level of knowledge on sexual abuse and assertive behaviour in prevention of sexual abuse.

Table 5 :
Association of pre-test level of knowledge on assertive behavior in prevention of sexual abuse and selected demographic variables.