‘Mind the Gaps’: Exploring Regional and Gender Patterns in Threats to Ethiopian Adolescents’ Bodily Integrity

Abstract

Spurred by international commitments to address age- and gender-based violence, this article uses a capabilities framework to address an important data gap on violence against adolescents in Ethiopia. It draws on mixed-methods data collected in 2019/2020 in three diverse rural regions. This includes surveys completed by 5539 girls and boys as well as 819 qualitative interviews with adolescents, caregivers, community members, and service providers. We find that threats to adolescents’ bodily integrity are shaped by a complex interplay of age, gender, and socio-cultural environment. Girls are less able than boys to enjoy freedom of movement and control over their bodies, and age-related violence is often deeply gendered in ways that are context specific. Differences in service provisioning augment already large gaps between adolescents in different regions. To tackle threats to adolescents’ bodily integrity, awareness-raising efforts need to be twinned with improved access to education, health, social protection, and justice services.