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. 2020 Jul 31;17(15):5536.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph17155536.

Gender-Based Violence Perpetration by Male High School Students in Eastern Ethiopia

Addisu Shunu Beyene  1   2 , Catherine Chojenta  1 , Deborah J Loxton  1
Affiliations

Gender-Based Violence Perpetration by Male High School Students in Eastern Ethiopia

Addisu Shunu Beyene et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Gender-based violence (GBV) perpetration is a global public health problem due to its detrimental effect on health and education. This study aims to determine the prevalence of gender-based violence perpetration by male students in eastern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted in eastern Ethiopia in December 2018. A total of 1064 male students were involved in the study. Data were collected using an adaptation of the WHO Multi-Country Study self-administered questionnaire on the Women Health and Life Event. Descriptive statistics were calculated using STATA version 14. The prevalence of gender-based violence committed by a male in the last 12 months was 55.83% (95% CI: 52.84-58.82%). The prevalence of emotional abuse against an intimate or non-partner was 45.86% (95% CI: 42.87-48.86%), physical abuse was 45.77% (95% CI: 42.77-48.77%), and sexual abuse was 31.11% (95% CI: 28.32-33.90%). The perpetration of multiple types of gender-based violence (emotional, physical, and sexual) was 47.15% (95% CI: 43.15-51.25%), with 17.72% (95% CI: 14.75-21.03%) reporting emotionally and physically violent acts, 14.21% (95% CI: 11.51-17.27%) reporting emotionally violent acts only, and 12.88% (95% CI: 10.29-15.82%) reporting physically violent acts only. There were statistically significant differences between the age of participants who committed acts of all forms of GBV in the "ever" timeframe and the past 12 months (p < 0.001). Effective prevention and intervention strategies should be developed at the school level to reduce gender-based violence perpetration.

Keywords: Ethiopia; gender-based violence; high school; male; perpetration; students.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Venn diagram showing the overlap of types of gender-based violence (GBV) committed by male high school students during their lifetime in East Hararghe, eastern Ethiopia, December 2018. The size of the circles is not proportional to the percentage of each type of GBV.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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