Prevalence and correlates of sexual violence among adolescent girls and young women: findings from a cross-sectional study in a South African university

Abstract

Background: Epidemiological data on the prevalence and factors associated with sexual violence is critical to understanding the magnitude of the problem and designing effective interventions. Drawing from cross-sectional data from a South African university, we examined the prevalence and correlates of sexual violence among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW). Methods: We analysed data of 451 AGYW selected using stratified sampling. Sexual violence was defined as any sexual acts, and attempt to obtain sexual acts without consent. We used adjusted and unadjusted logistic regression models to examine the factors associated with exposure to sexual violence while controlling for relevant covariates. Results: The lifetime and past-year prevalence of sexual violence was 37.9% and 25.3%, respectively. A higher prevalence of sexual violence was reported by heavy episodic drinkers of alcohol (lifetime 48.4% and past year 34.0%), those who received insufficient financial support (lifetime 58.0% and past year 35.8%) compared to non-users of alcohol (lifetime 27.2% and past year 17.2%),) and those who received adequate financial support (lifetime 20.8% and past year 13.1%). AGYW who reported heavy episodic use of alcohol had higher odds of reporting lifetime (AOR: 1.86; 95% CI: 1.07–3.25) and past year (AOR: 2.03; 95% CI: 1.10–3.75) experience of sexual violence compared to non-users. However, individuals who received adequate family financial support were 76% and 65% less likely to report lifetime and past year experience of sexual violence than those who received inadequate family financial support. Also, AGYW who rated themselves as very religious were 80% and 75% less likely to report lifetime and past year experience of sexual violence compared to those who were not religious. Conclusion: Our study shows that sexual violence affects a large proportion of girls, requiring intervention that not only focuses on increasing social support for survivors, facilitating reporting, and ensuring perpetrators are convicted, but also target alcohol use reduction and poverty alleviation.