Sexual Harassment among Adolescent’s Girls: Role of Social and Psychological Empowerment

Abstract

Background: Sexual harassment is a crucial public problem among adolescents. So; empowering adolescent girls to entitlement their rights, and creating an environment where they can live free from discrimination and violence, is critical. Aim of the study: was to determine the prevalence of sexual harassment among adolescent girls and the role of social and psychological empowerment in moderating its effects. Subjects and method : Research design: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used. Setting: The study was conducted in 6 preparatory and secondary schools at Mania ALQamh, Kafer Saqre, and Mashtol AL-Soqe cities, Al-Sharkia Governorate, Egypt. Subjects: The study was conducted on 650 adolescent girls who were randomly selected by using a multi-stage cluster sampling. Tools of data collection: Four tools were used to collect the necessary data as follows; a self-administered questionnaire, AAUW Sexual Harassment Survey, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and the Psychological/Spiritual Subscale of the Quality-of-Life Index. Results: The study results revealed that 72.9% of the studied girls had experienced sexual harassment before, and 70.8% of them experienced verbal harassment. Statistically significant negative correlations were found between harassment scores and social and psychological empowerment scores. Also, statistically positive correlations were found between social and psychological empowerment scores. Conclusion: sexual harassment is a highly prevalent problem among adolescent girls. The presence of appropriate social and psychological empowerment was associated with a reduced rate of sexual harassment among the studied girls. Moreover, highly socially empowered girls experienced fewer negative effects of sexual harassment. Recommendations: further qualitative studies are needed to explore the role of empowering young girls in preventing sexual harassment and sexual violence.