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Out of 284 identified records, 11 studies from India, Nepal, and Pakistan were included, while no eligible studies were identified for Bangladesh, Bhutan, or Afghanistan. The pooled prevalence was 6.23% (95% confidence interval [1.9, 10.5]), with substantial heterogeneity (I\u00b2 = 99.73%). Key risk factors identified included lack of parental supervision, unsafe environments, sex disparities, and socioeconomic vulnerabilities.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1891\/vv-2025-0082","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,14]],"date-time":"2026-02-14T09:50:28Z","timestamp":1771062628000},"page":"641-658","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Prevalence and Risk Factors for Child Sexual Abuse in Six South Asian Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis"],"prefix":"10.1891","volume":"41","author":[{"given":"Samata","family":"Nepal","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alok","family":"Atreya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kishor","family":"Adhikari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ram Bahadur","family":"Shrestha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ahana","family":"Shrestha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Amrita","family":"Ghimire","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ritesh G.","family":"Menezes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"793","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,14]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"2026100821401983000_41.4.641.1","first-page":"125","article-title":"Prevalence of child abuse among university students: A retrospective cross-sectional study in University of the Punjab, Pakistan","year":"2020","journal-title":"International Quarterly of Community Health Education"},{"issue":"1","key":"2026100821401983000_41.4.641.2","first-page":"85","article-title":"Accounts, excuses and apologies of juvenile sexual offenders in selected prisons in Lagos, Nigeria","year":"2018","journal-title":"AFRREV IJAH: An International Journal of Arts and Humanities"},{"issue":"1_suppl","key":"2026100821401983000_41.4.641.3","first-page":"74","article-title":"Suicide attempts due to child abuse: A perspective into the Nepalese legal framework and societal norms","year":"2025","journal-title":"Medico-Legal Journal"},{"issue":"3","key":"2026100821401983000_41.4.641.4","first-page":"127","article-title":"Nepal \u2013 exploited by older married man \u2013 young unmarried mother accused of infanticide","year":"2019","journal-title":"Medico-Legal Journal"},{"issue":"4","key":"2026100821401983000_41.4.641.5","first-page":"192","article-title":"When sexual offence is an unexpected diagnosis \u2013 exploration of medical, legal and social aspects in Nepalese scenario","year":"2020","journal-title":"Medico-Legal Journal"},{"key":"2026100821401983000_41.4.641.6","unstructured":"Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum (BSAF). 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