article · Journal of Child Sexual Abuse
Mandatory reporting laws in Tanzania are designed to identify and address child abuse, but awareness and compliance among healthcare students remain restricted. A randomised controlled trial involving 412 medical and nursing students evaluated the effects of a dedicated sexual health training curriculum on their understanding of these legal obligations and their ability to handle confidential abuse records. Half of the participants underwent the educational programme, while the remaining half served as a waitlist control group. Assessments conducted at baseline and at a three-month follow-up revealed marked differences between the cohorts. The trained students achieved significant gains in their knowledge of mandatory reporting legislation and recorded higher overall scores for managing sensitive abuse data compared to the control group, who exhibited minimal or negative change over the same period.
Properly identifying and documenting child abuse is critical for legal protection and patient welfare. When future healthcare professionals lack clear knowledge of reporting laws and data confidentiality, vulnerable clients may slip through the safety net. Demonstrating that targeted educational interventions directly improve legal comprehension ensures that upcoming clinicians are better equipped to protect children and manage sensitive medical records responsibly.
This research provides an applied and tested educational intervention that could be integrated into medical and nursing school curricula or continuing professional development programmes. The primary users are higher education institutions, healthcare training facilities, and public health authorities seeking evidence-based training modules to enforce legal compliance. Because the curriculum has already been tested through a randomised controlled trial, it is ready for broader institutional adoption across professional training bodies.
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Tanzania mandated reporting laws aim to identify and address child abuse, yet healthcare students’ awareness and reporting are limited. This study assessed training’s impact on their knowledge of reporting laws and handling confidential child abuse data. The study involved 412 medical and nursing students in a randomized controlled trial (RCT), with 206 participants receiving sexual health training and a waitlist control group of equal size receiving no intervention. Baseline and 3-month follow-up assessments evaluated knowledge of mandatory reporting laws and recording practices. At the 3-month follow-up, the control group showed minimal knowledge improvement (+7.5% for item 1, −6% for item 2), whereas the intervention group showed significant gains (23.7% for item 1, 0.7% for item 2). Additionally, notable disparity in total scores for reporting and recording between the groups emerged from baseline to follow-up (t = -3.682, p < .001, Cohen’s d = 0.365). The intervention group (M = 0.527, SD = 1.630) had a larger mean difference score than the control group (M = -0.044, SD = 1.499). Therefore, the training significantly improved students’ knowledge of mandatory reporting laws and the recording of clients’ confidential information.
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DOI: 10.1080/10538712.2025.2450404
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