SEXUAL VIOLENCE ANDASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG FEMALE STUDENTS IN ARBAMINCH UNIVERSITY, ETHIOPIA2023

Abstract

Introduction: Sexual violence is a common and serious public health issue that affects millions of people worldwide each year. Various scientific findings depict that school is the most common place where sexual violence is experienced. However, there is a dearth of evidence regarding sexual violence and associated factors among the female university students in Ethiopia. Objective: To assess the magnitude of sexual violence and its associated factors among the female students of Arba Minch University, Ethiopia Methods:Institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 531 simple randomly selected female students of Arba Minch Universityon June, 2023. Data were collected by self administered questionnaire. The collected data were entered in to Epi-Info version 4.6 and then exported to Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25 for data cleaning and statistical analysis. Binary logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with sexual violence. Adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval were computed and interpreted accordingly. A p-value <0.05 was considered to declare a result as statistically significant. Results: The overall magnitude of sexual violence among female students of Arba Minch University was 60.4% [95%CI: 56%–65%]. In particular, 49.6% of female university students experienced sexual harassment, 23.3% attempted rape, and 4.7% completed rape since joining the university. Being in third year (AOR= 2.02, 95% CI:1.22, 3.34), had support out of parents (AOR=1.90, 95%CI: 1.08, 3.33),having a mother with no formal education (AOR=1.95, 95%CI: 1.08, 3.51), and had primary education (AOR=1.67, 95%CI: 1.06, 2.63), and visiting night clubs (AOR=1.90, 95%CI: 1.16, 3.11) were statistically significant with sexual violence among female students since joining the university. Conclusion:The sexual violence was found to be reported by more than half of the participants. Year of study, sources of financial support, students’ mother educational status, and visiting night club were factors associated with sexual violence.