Sexual violence among female high school students in Debark, north west Ethiopia.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the prevalence, outcome and awareness of sexual violence among high school female students.


METHODS
A school-based cross-sectional survey.


METHODS
Debark Town, north-west Ethiopia.


METHODS
Two hundred and sixteen female high school students, grade 9-11 were included for the quantitative study. For the qualitative data, 16 individuals for the focus group discussion (10 well-recognised female figures in the town and six high school students) and head of the police department for in-depth interview were enrolled.


RESULTS
Sixty two per cent of the respondents had heard of sexual violence committed on young females. Sexual violence was reported by 65.3% of the respondents. The prevalence of performed and attempted rape were 8.8% and 11.5%, respectively. The age range of performed rape victims was between 12 and 21 years. Of the 19 (8.8%) who reported rape being performed on them, unwanted pregnancy, suicide attempt, vaginal discharge and abortion were the consequences in 21%, 15.8%, 10.5% and 5.3%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Sexual violence is a major public health problem with high rates of underreporting. Sex education should be given on a regular basis and policy making bodies and the police be well aware of this high magnitude and take strong measures to reduce it.
Worku
A
A
Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
Addisie
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001364:Awareness; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005002:Ethiopia; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D011902:Rape / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*