title: Childhood Experiences of Physical, Emotional and Sexual Abuse among College Students in South India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To document the prevalence of physical, emotional and sexual abuse during childhood among college students.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted among college students of Puducherry, South India. Stratified random sampling was done to select colleges. Data were gathered using the adapted 'Ministry of Women and Child Development Questionnaire on Child Abuse for Young adults'.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 936 college students completed the questionnaire. Mean ± SD age of the participants was 19.2 ± 1.1 years. Half (48%) of the participants reported being mocked because of their physical appearance. In all, 56% (524/936) of the participants reported that they were beaten during their childhood, of which 13.4% (70/524) required medical treatment. Around 10% reported someone exposing his/her private parts to them, while in 6.4% of the cases, the perpetrator forced the study participants to expose their private parts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Emotional, physical and sexual abuse is common in childhood and demands prompt interventions at the familial, community and political levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India-110029.
authors.forename: Meenakshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bhilwar
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India-110029.
authors.forename: Ravi Prakash
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Upadhyay
authors.affiliation: Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Puducherry, India-605009.
authors.forename: Saranya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rajavel
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Vardhman Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, India-110029.
authors.forename: Sunil K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute, Kathirkamam, Puducherry, India-605009.
authors.forename: Kavita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vasudevan
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India-605009 palaniccm@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Palanivel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chinnakali
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: South India; child abuse; emotional; gender; physical; sexual