Public attitudes toward child sexual abuse in Serbia

Bringing public attention to the topic of sexual harrassment of children in Serbia during 2010 as well as the series of arrests of persons suspected of "peadophilia", encouraged authors to conduct a study which will analyze the public opinion about sexual child abuse. The study is conducted using a sample of 804 people in three comparative categories, laymans, professionals who work with potential victims and sexual abusers, and students of the Belgrade university. Besides assessing how well the persons in question are informed and assessing their concrete knowledge, the authors will evaluate standpoints in five dimensions questioning the perception of the term child, the term abuser and cause often abusing, stands regarding punative measures for sexual delinquents, stands regarding victimization of children with developmental disorders and finally the perception of the child regarding the abuse.