MAGNITUDE OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG HIGH SCHOOL FEMALE STUDENTS IN ARBA MINCH ZURIA WOREDA, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA, 2023

Abstract

Background: Child sex abuse is a severe violate of fundamental human rights that has numerous negative consequence including physical, psychological and is a huge global public health issue. Despite this fact, which poses a serious risk to public health and affects millions of children worldwide each year, it is Ethiopia's most overlooked and unreported form of violence. Thus, the importance of this study is to fill that gap. Strategy development, its implementation, problem solving are the outcomes of this study. Objective: This study was aimed to assess the magnitude of child sexual abuse and associated factors among high school female students in Arba Minch Zuria Woreda (AZW), Southern Ethiopia. Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 421 randomly selected female high school students in Arba Minch Zuria Woreda between December 20, 2022 to January 20, 2023. Stratified and Multi stage sampling technique was used to select participants from selected high schools. A pretested, self-administered questionnaire was used, and the data was entered using Epidata version 4.6 and analyzed using SPSS (statically package for social science) version 27. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were carried out to identify factors associated with Sexual abuse using binary logistic regression. Statistical significance was set at a p-value of less than 0.05. Result. The magnitude of child sexual abuse among female high school students in the study area was 186 (44.9 %( 95% CI: 40.6-50.2). Students who slept alone at home (AOR = 4.93(95% CI: 1.46-16.67); having no open discussions with their parents (AOR=4.49(95% CI: 1.62-12.47); drinking alcohol (AOR=3.3(95% CI: 1.32-8.28); and having friends who drink alcohol or chew khat (AOR=6.14(95% CI: 1.58 - 23.9) were the identified factors associated with child sexual abuse. Conclusion. This study found a high level of child sexual abuse in female high school students in Arbaminch Zuria Woreda. Factor significantly associated with child sexual abuse in this study were having no open discussion with parents, drinking alcohol, sleeping alone at home, and having friends who drink alcohol and chew khat. Therefore, High schools must collaborate with parents to develop a strategy to reduce the magnitude of the problem while focusing on the identified factors