A comparative study of the role of the family in preventing child sexual abuse in Iranian and Canadian law

Abstract

Preventing child sexual abuse requires a set of interventions, including measures to prevent the commission of sexual abuse through family-based and school-based education. To date, the focus of interventions has been mainly on prevention at the tertiary level. Understanding and implementing an integrated public health approach provides an important opportunity to integrate the different levels of prevention, namely primary, secondary, and tertiary, and to develop comprehensive prevention strategies. A comprehensive approach that aims to prevent the first offense from occurring. In contrast, most of the approaches in the protection law focus mainly on criminal strategies that aim to prevent recidivism, not to prevent the first offense. Canada needs coherent, integrated, and evidence-based strategies to prevent individuals at risk from becoming actual or repeat perpetrators of child sexual abuse. The present study, with a comparative approach, examines the position and role of the family in preventing child sexual abuse in the legal systems of Iran and Canada. In this regard, relevant laws, including the “Children and Adolescents Protection Act” and the “Islamic Penal Code” in Iran, and the “Child and Family Services Act” in Canada, have been subjected to comparative analysis. The findings show that although both legal systems emphasize the responsibility of parents in protecting the physical and mental health of children, in Canada this role has been strengthened by clearer enforcement mechanisms such as mandatory parent education, mandatory reporting, and continuous monitoring by social institutions. In contrast, in Iran, despite recent legal developments, weaknesses in parent education, lack of adequate psychological and social support, and lack of a coherent monitoring system have reduced the effectiveness of the family in preventing child sexual abuse. Finally, the article offers suggestions for focusing more on primary prevention within the framework of a comprehensive public health approach, which presents one of the most important ways to strengthen the role of the family in Iran, including culturally appropriate sex education, establishing family counseling centers at the local level, and strengthening cooperation between support and judicial institutions.