Sexual Abuse of Young Children in Southern Africa

Professor Linda Richter is the Executive Director of the Child, Youth, Family and Social Development Research Programme. She holds a Chair in Psychology and is an elected Fellow of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She is an Honorary Professor in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the University of the Witwatersrand, a consultant in the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA), and an Honorary Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne.

Andrew Dawes obtained his Master of Science degree cum laude from the University of Cape Town. He is a Director in the Child, Youth, and Family Development research programme at the Human Science Research Council, and an associate professor in Psychology at the University of Cape Town. He has extensive research experience in applied developmental psychology and has produced three books and more than 100 journal articles, book chapters and conference papers. His main research interest include the impact of violence and abuse on children (including children in armed conflict), and violence prevention.

Craig Higson-Smith obtained his Masters degree in Research Psychology cum laude from the University of Natal. He is currently a director of the South African Institute for Traumatic Stress and runs a private consultancy. At the time of writing, Craig was a senior research specialist in the Child. Youth and Family Development research programme at the Human Science Research Council. Craig has worked extensively in the field of youth and violence as a researcher in community-based organisations. His ongoing work focuses on resilience to repeated traumatic exposure in the South African Police Services and innovative approaches to violence prevention and trauma care.

Extract of review by Steven Collings (University of Kwazulu-Natal) in Psychology in Society 2006 (33) pp. 57-59:

"In sum, Sexual abuse of young children in southern Africa provides us with a valuable "sourcebook" of available South African research and practice initiatives, and as such needs to be regarded as essential reading for all researchers and practitioners working in the field."