MAGNITUDE OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG HIGH SCHOOL FEMALE STUDENTS IN JARSO WOREDA, EAST HARARGE ZONE, EASTERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Background: Sexual violence is not limited to certain parts of the world rather it is the dominant problem both in developed as well developing countries. Although it is largely hidden by the victims, it is estimated that 12 million people around the world face sexual violence every year. Even though the national policy of Ethiopia prioritizes violence against girls; still it is not possible to address those who are suffering from violence at school and there is limited research on sexual violence of female students at high school and again there was no previous study conducted particularly in Jarso Woreda. Objective: To assess magnitude of sexual violence and associated factors among female high school students in Jarso Woreda, East Hararghe zone, Eastern Ethiopia Methods: School based cross-sectional study design was conducted on 582 female high school students in Jarso Woreda from March 11 to 14, 2019. All female high school students of the woreda were included in the study. Data were collected using structured self-administered questionnaire. The data were entered into Epi data version 3.1 and exported to Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20.0 and descriptive, binary and multiple logistic regression analyses were carried out. Level of statistical significance was declared at p-value <0.05.Assumptions of the analysis, such as the multi-collinearity and model fitness were checked. Results: A total of 559(96%) female students were participated in this study. The prevalence of sexual violence was 160 (28.6%) 95% CI (25, 32). The prevalence of completed and attempted rape were 40 (7.2%) and 76(13.6%) respectively. Ever had married [AOR=2.8, 95% CI (1.4, 5.8)], substance use like cocaine, shisha [AOR=2.6, 95% CI (1.02, 6.5)], and had ever started sexual intercourse [AOR=5.9, 95%CI :( 3.3, 10.7)], ever drink alcohol [AOR=3.38, 95% CI (1.1, 10.4)] were factors significantly associated with sexual violence. Conclusion: Prevalence of sexual violence is still high among female high school students in Jarso Woreda. Findings of the study indicated that interventions should aim to reduce or prevent sexual violence by focusing on awareness creation to female students in schools on how to xiii protect themselves from sexual violence and substance use and further studies to dig deeper factors of sexual violence