MAGNITUDE OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG FEMALE STUDENTS IN JIGJIGA UNIVERSITY, EASTERN ETHIOPIA

Abstract

Introduction: Sexual violence is any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work. Sexual violence is an extreme restriction of the sexual and reproductive autonomy of women and the problem was endemic in communities around the world. However, there is a limited evidence of the magnitude of sexual violence and associated factors among University students in, Ethiopia which necessitated this study to be conducted. Objectives: To asses magnitude of sexual violence and associated factors among female students of Jigjiga university Eastern Ethiopia, from February 22-30. Methods and materials: Institution based cross sectional study design was conducted. List of all female students from the selected departments were the sampling frame. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaire by six data collection facilitators. The collected data entered into Epi Data version 3.1 and then exported to SPSS version 20. Bivariate and multivariate analysis were done to identify factors associated with the sexual violence. Result: Lifetime sexual violence was found to be 36.5%. However, 17% of respondents reported experiencing sexual violence since entering university and in the current academic year. Life time sexual violence was positively associated with rural childhood residence [ (AOR= 2.931,95% CI: (1.54, 5.57)], having regular boyfriend [(AOR= 1.997, 95% CI: (1.12, 3.57)] , maternal education [(AOR= 2.113, 95% CI: (1.04, 4.30)], alcohol consumption [(AOR 2.792, 95% CI: (1.46, 5.33)], having friends who drink regularly [(AOR= 2.274, 95% CI: (1.05, 4.93)], use of substances like cocaine [(AOR=3.785, 95% CI: (1.12,12.75)] and being sexually active [(AOR=2.733, 95% CI: (1.44, 5.21)] while it was negatively associated with discussing sexual issues with parents [(AOR= 0.151, 95% CI: (0.084, 0.269)]. Conclusion: prevalence of sexual violence was high. The university and other stakeholders should take measures on those who sell substances and alcohol around the campus.