Effect of Educational Intervention on Preventive Measures against Electronic Sexual Harassment among Preparatory Students

Background: Electronic sexual harassment (ESH) is a controversial issue causing
physical, social as well as psychosocial negative effects on preparatory students which
consequently can deteriorate their academic achievements. Aim: Evaluate the effect of
educational intervention on preventive measures against electronic sexual harassment
among preparatory students. Design: A quasi-experimental design [pretest -posttest] was
utilized. Setting: Three preparatory schools randomly selected by multistage cluster sampling
from the two educational administrations of Zagazig City. Sample: A random sample of 150
students was recruited. Tools: A self-administered questionnaire consists of four parts; (1)
Interview Questionnaire Sheet, (2) Students’ Knowledge Regarding ESH, (3) Students’
Preventive Measures and Protection Practices Toward ESH, and (4) Sexual Harassment
Coping Behaviors Subscale. Results: Revealed that the mean age of the students was
8.8158±2.38254, and about 68.00% of them were females, 15.9% had good knowledge
before the educational program, the percentage improved to 78.2% after the educational
program, the total preventive measures and protection practices toward electronic sexual
harassment scores increased from 32.5% at the pre-phase to 80.9% after the educational
program, the percent of the total scores regarding coping behaviors against electronic sexual
harassment increased from 24.1 % at the pre-phase to 75.9 % after the educational program.
Conclusion: Doing the educational program for students was effective in enhancing their
knowledge and preventive measures about electronic sexual harassment and also improving
their coping behaviors against sexual harassment. Recommendations: Implementing the
developed program in comparable settings on a broader scale to approve its beneficial effects
and allow the findings to be more broadly applied.