Exposure to physical and sexual violence and adverse health behaviours in African children: results from the Global School-based Student Health Survey

Abstract

Objective To examine associations between exposure to physical violence (PV) or sexual violence (SV) and adverse health behaviours among a sample of children in five African countries. Methods In a cross-sectional analysis of data from Namibia, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe -countries that participated in the Global School-based Student Health Survey in 2003 or 2004 -we compared the relative frequency of several adverse health behaviours among children (primarily students 13-15 years of age) who did and who did not report exposure to PV or SV. We estimated odds ratios (ORs) for such behaviours and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) after adjusting for age and sex. Findings Exposure to PV during the 12 months preceding the survey was reported by 27-50% (average: 42%) of the children studied in the five countries, and lifetime exposure to SV was reported by 9-33% (average: 23%). Moderate to strong associations were observed between exposure to PV or SV and measures of mental health, suicidal ideation, current cigarette use, current alcohol use, lifetime drug use, multiple sex partners and a history of sexually transmitted infection (P £ 0.05 for all associations). For example, the odds of being a current cigarette smoker were higher in children involved in one fight (OR: 2.20; 95% CI: 1.77-2.75), 2-5 fights (OR: 3.43; 95% CI: 2.54-4.63), or 6 fights or more (OR: 5.95; 95% CI: 4.37-8.11) (P for trend < 0.001) during the 12 months preceding the survey than in children unexposed to PV. Conclusion Childhood exposure to PV and SV is common among African children in some countries and is associated with multiple adverse health behaviours. In developing countries, increased awareness of the frequency of exposure to violence among children and its potential health consequences may lead to heightened attention to the need for health promotion and preventive programmes that address the problem.Une traduction en français de ce résumé figure à la fin de l'article. Al final del artículo se facilita una traducción al español. ‫املقالة.‬ ‫لهذه‬ ‫الكامل‬ ‫النص‬ ‫نهاية‬ ‫يف‬ ‫الخالصة‬ ‫لهذه‬ ‫العربية‬ ‫الرتجمة‬

The experiences of parents of children with mental disability regarding access to mental health care

“…Only three peer-reviewed studies have assessed the mental health needs of children in Namibia and these studies do not provide population-based data. 22,23,24 This is despite the fact that a national representative study to assess the living conditions of people with disabilities reported that almost half the respondents stated that the onset of their disability took place before the age of five. 25 Data from neighbouring South Africa, a country which shares many social and historical similarities with Namibia, shows that there is a high level of unmet need in South Africa.…”

Perception of Risk of Vertically Acquired HIV Infection and Acceptability of Provider-Initiated Testing and Counseling Among Adolescents in Zimbabwe

“…Data on sexual risk factors were not collected, and we may have underestimated sexual abuse as a reason for being HIV-infected, as participants and their guardians may have been reluctant to divulge this. However, although we do not discount the high rates of sexual abuse reported from African countries, 31 at the population level penetrative forced sex during childhood occurs at a much lower frequency than does exposure to HIV at birth and in infancy in this region, with the possible exception of South Africa. 32 The thematic analysis performed may be subject to interpretivism (i.e., constructs created by the investigators) in that the views of the participants were constructed by the study investigators, and thus verbatim quotes have been provided to illustrate the main themes.…”

A study on the Socio-demographic profile of the victims of sex offences attending the Department of Forensic Medicine of a Tertiary Care Institute of Kolkata, West Bengal

“…In the WHO Multi-country study on women's health and domestic violence against women, 3-24% of women reported that their first sexual experience was forced, and that for a majority of respondents this occurred during adolescence (9).A Nigerian study found that 45% of females and 32% of males aged 12-21 years reported having had forced sexual intercourse (10). More recently, a study of over 20 000 schoolchildren aged 13-15 years in Namibia, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe found that 23% reported having experienced sexual violence (physically forced to have sexual intercourse) at some point in their live (11). In other study 37% of the victim girls were found to be 16-20 yrs of age.…”